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THE  INFLUENCE  OF  BEN  JONSON 
ON  ENGLISH  COMEDY 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  BEN  JONSON 
ON  ENGLISH  COMEDY 


INFLUENCE  OF  BEN  JONSON 
ON  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

1598-1642 


BY 

MINA    KERR 

Dean  of  Milwaukee-Do\»tjer  College 


UNIVERSITY   OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  Agents,  NEW  YORK 

1912 


Copyrij^ht,  1912 
By  thk  University  of  Pennsylvania 


J.   F.   TAPLKV    OO. 


PREFACE 


This  study  of  Ben  Jonson's  influence  on  Elizabethan 
and  Restoration  comedy  has  been  made  at  the  suggestion 
of  Professor  Felix  E.  Schelling,  and  has  been  done  in  par- 
tial fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doc- 
tor of  Philosophy  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Much 
suggestion  and  direction  have  been  gained  from  "Ward's 
History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature,  Schelling 's  Eliza- 
bethan Drama,  and  "Woodbridge 's  Studies  in  Jonson's  Com- 
edy. The  method  pursued  has  consisted  for  the  most  part 
of  a  first-hand  examination  and  comparison  of  the  plays 
written  by  Jonson,  his  contemporaries  and  later  followers. 
The  question  of  how  far  and  in  what  way  one  man's  work 
has  been  influenced  by  that  of  another  is  always  open  to 
dispute,  and  it  is  impossible  to  fix  absolute  limits.  The 
ever-present  danger  is  that  of  finding  what  one  is  looking 
for  rather  than  what  actually  exists.  Many  quotations 
have  been  included,  especially  from  minor  writers,  so  as 
to  put  before  the  reader  as  far  as  possible  the.  materials 
upon  which  judgment  has  been  based. 

I  desire  to  express  my  gratitude  to  Professor  Felix  E. 
Schelling  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  for  his  wise 
counsel  and  gracious  encouragement  during  the  preparation 
of  this  monograph,  and  for  the  many  valuable  suggestions 
he  has  given  out  of  his  broad  and  minute  knowledge  of  the 
history  and  content  of  Elizabethan  drama. 

M.  K. 

Milwaukee-Downer  College, 
December,  1911. 


235319 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  page 

I.  The  Character  of  Jonson's  Comedy 1 

II.  The  Influence  of  Jonson's  Comedy  on  that  of  His  Immedi- 

ate    Contemporaries 18 

III.  Nathaniel    Field    and    Richard    Brome    in    Relation    to 

Jonson 52 

IV.  Other  "  Sons  of  Ben  "  in  English  Comedy  before  the  Clos- 

ing of  the  Theaters  in  1G42 76 

V.  Conclusion 120 

Bibliography         125 

Index         128 


/ 


'But  all  so  clear,  and  led  by  Reason's  flame, 
As  but  to  stumble  in  her  sight  were  shame; 
These  I  will  honor,  love,  embrace,  and  serve, 
And  free  it  from  all  question  to  preserve. 
So  short  you  read  my  character,  and  theirs 
I  would  call  mine,  to  which  not  many  stairs 
Are  asked  to  climb.     First  give  me  faith,  who  know 
]\Iyself  a  little ;  I  will  take  you  so, 
As  you  have  writ  yourself :  now  stand,  and  then, 
Sir,  you  are  Sealed  of  the  Tribe  of  Ben." 
An  Epistle,  Answering  to  One  that 
Asked  to  he  sealed  of  the  Tribe  of  Ben. 

*  Son,  and  my  friend,  I  had  not  called  you  so 
To  me ;  or  been  the  same  to  you,  if  show, 
Profit,  or  chance  had  made  us:  but  I  know, 
"What,  by  that  name,  we  each  to  other  owe. 
Freedom  and  truth ;  with  love  from  those  begot : 
Wise-crafts,  on  which  the  flatterer  ventures  not." 
An  Epigram  to  a  Friend  and  Son. 


The   Influence  of  Ben  Jonson 
on  English  Comedy 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    CHARACTER    OF    JONSON 's    COMEDY 

The  purpose  in  the  present  study  is  to  follow  but  one  of 
the  lines  along  which  the  work  of  Ben  Jonson  affected  Eng- 
lish literature,  to  determine  where,  how,  and  to  what  ex- 
tent, his  influence  was  felt  in  comedy  as  written  by  con- 
temporaries and  later  "Sons"  between  1598,  when  Every 
Man  in  His  Humor  was  first  acted,  and  the  closing  of  the 
theaters  in  1642.  It  is  helpful,  first  of  all,  to  consider 
what  in  Jonson  gave  him  the  power  of  attaining  the  posi- 
tion of  importance  which  he  holds  in  English  dramatic 
history,  and  necessary  to  define  clearly  what  were  the  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics  of  his  comedy,  in  order  to  set 
up  criteria  by  which  to  judge  the  presence  or  absence  of 
his  influence. 

The  nature  of  Jonson 's  personality  and  the  character 
of  his  art  were  both  such  as  would  inevitably  draw  to  him 
many  loyal  folloM^ers.  His  first  essay  in  the  comedy  of 
humors  marked  him  out  at  once  as  a  writer  of  originality 
and  power  among  his  contemporary  craftsmen.  Some  of 
these  opposed  what  was  plainly  the  blazing  of  a  new  path 
in  English  comedy,  but  others  applauded  enthusiastically, 
and  soon  showed  in  their  own  work  evidences  of  approval 
and  acceptance  of  the  new  method.  In  his  later  years  Jon- 
son was  surrounded  by  a  group  of  young  disciples,  who 


2  JONSON  AXp  L,\GLISII  CO.MEDY 

were  pioud  to  be  "Se^ltjd  6f  the  Tribe  of  Ben,"  and  who 
looked  upon  the  patriarch  of  their  elan  both  as  chief  of 
good  comrades  and  as  supreme  authority  in  matters  of 
literature.  Whether  in  comedy,  tragedy,  masque,  epi- 
gram, or  occasional  verse,  in  matter  or  form,  he  was  re- 
garded as  a  dictator,  so  that  both  during  his  own  age  and 
during  the  following  centurj'  we  find  unmistakable  and 
effective  traces  of  his  influence. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  Ben  Jonson  had  such 
position  and  power  in  establishing  a  new  school.  First  of 
all,  his  art  and  workmanship  were  thoroughly  solf-con- 
scious,  and  he  had  fixed,  positive  theories  about  literature. 
These  he  talked  continuously  and  vociferously  for  forty 
years  and  explained  clearly  in  his  inductions,  prefaces, 
prologues,  epilogues,  and  Discoveries,  so  that  there  could 
be  no  doubt  as  to  what  he  believed  on  each  and  every  ques- 
tion of  literary  art.  With  his  fii*st  play  he  set  forth  defi- 
nite dramatic  methods,  and  for  the  most  part  he  made  his 
practice  to  accord  with  his  theories.  Further,  whatever 
idea  or  theory  he  adopted  received  his  vigorous,  whole- 
hearted support ;  and  hence  his  statements  of  literary  creed 
were  positive  assertions,  free  from  the  numerous  modifica- 
tions and  exceptions  that  may  be  necessary  for  complete- 
ness and  the  most  exact  truth,  but  which,  nevertheless, 
tend  to  involve  in  uncertainty  those  who  would  imitate. 
Jonson 's  theory  and  art  were,  therefore,  sucli  as  could  be 
readily  laid  hold  of  imd  patterned  after.  Again,  in  lit- 
erary as  in  other  fashions  originality  and  novelty  act  as 
powerful  forces  in  gaining  followers,  and  Jonson  in  his 
first  comedy  of  humors  made  a  deliberate  innovation,  un- 
dertaking what  had  never  before  been  done  in  English 
drama.  In  the  prologue  to  Every  Man  in  His  FJumor  he 
foretold  a  reaction  from  romantic  and  idealistic  to  cla.ssic 
and  realistic  drama,  and  declared  that  he  would  portray 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY  3 

' '  deeds  and  language  such  as  men  do  use,  j 

And  persons  such  as  comedy  would  choose,  j 

When  she  would  show  an  image  of  the  times,         ^  j 

And  sport  with  human  follies,  not  with  crimes.'  j 

Certainly  the  personality  of  this  remarkable  man  had 
much  to  do  with  the  desire  of  those  who  knew  and  loved 
him  to  follow  along  the  same  paths  in  literature.     He  won 
loyal  friends  and  as  strong  enemies  in  his  personal  Me, 
enthusiastic  followers  in  his  particular  form  of  art  and  as 
decided  opponents.     That  he  had  a  warm  heart  and  a  rare 
capacity  for  friendship  or  that  his  relations  to  people  were 
marked  by  unusual  intensity  and  sincerity,   no  one  can 
doubt  who  has  read  his  various  dedications,  poems,  and  the 
Discoveries.     His  very  weaknesses  were  the  weaknesses  ot 
strength  and  he  was  a  most  human  mixture  of  qualities,— 
forceful 'but  intolerant,  warm  in  praise  but  self-assertive, 
clear  in  thought  and  speech  but  arrogant,  just  in  judgment 
but  imprudent,  never  passive  or  affected  but  always  pas- 
sionate and  sincere-a  man  toward  whom  others  could  not 
remain  indifferent,  but  whom  they  must  either  love  or  hate 

warmly.  . 

At  the  various  taverns  of  London,  Jonson  reigned  among 
his  fellows  and  later  his  disciples  by  right  of  character, 
wit  and  learning.  Of  the  early  days  at  the  Mermaid, 
Beaumont  wrote  in  a  letter  to  Jonson : 

"what  things  have  Ave  seen, 
Done  at  the  Mermaid !  heard  words  that 
Have  been  so  nimble,  and  so  full  of  subtle  flame, 
As  if  that  every  one  from  whom  they  came, 
Had  meant  to  put  his  whole  wit  in  a  jest." 

The  merry  feasts  of  wit  and  laughter  that  took  place  later 
in  the  famous  Apollo  Room  of  the  Devil  Tavern  at  Tem- 


4  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

pie  Bar  and  in  other  public  houses  of  the  day,  Herrick 
celebrates  in  his  well-known  verse : 

"Ah  Ben! 

Say  how  or  when 

Shall  we  thy  guests 
Meet  at  those  lyric  feasts 

iMade  at  the  Sun, 
The  Dog,  the  Triple  Tun? 
Where  we  such  clusters  had. 
As  made  us  nobly  wild,  not  mad; 

And  yet  each  verse  of  thine 
Outdid  the  meat,  outdid  the  frolic  wine." 

The  real  character  of  these  meetings  we  may  judge  best, 
however,  from  the  Leges  Coniivales  written  by  Ben  Jon- 
son  himself  and  engraved  in  marble  over  the  chimney  in 
the  Apollo  Room.  There  are  described  the  guests  invited 
to  join  the  happy  company: 

"Let  the  learned  and  witty,  the  jovial  and  gay, 
The  generous  and  honest,  compose  our  free  state  " 

There  we  learn  that,  while  the  ordinary-  theater  of  the  day 
was  no  fit  place  for  women,  the  conduct  of  the  Apollo  Club 
was  such  that  they  could  be  freely  admitted  to  its  meet- 
ings: 

"And  the  more  to  exalt  our  delight  whilst  we  stay, 
Let  none  be  debarred  from  his  choice  female  mate." 

Among  the  other  rules  laid  down  were  these : 

"Let  the  contests  be  rather  of  books  than  of  wine. 
Let  the  company  be  neither  noisy  nor  mute. 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY 

Let  none  of  things  serious,  much  less  of  divine, 
When  belly  and  head 's  full,  profanely  dispute. ' ' 

"Let  raillery  be  without  malice  or  heat." 

"Let  argument  bear  no  unmusical  sound, 
Nor  jars  interpose,  sacred  friendship  to  grieve."^ 

The  Leges  Convivales  testify  that  the  Apollo  Club  aimed  to 
hold  sacred  things  sacred,  honor  women,  exclude  malicious 
speech,  respect  learning,  prize  friendship,  and  they  con- 
vince us  that  the  meetings  were  characterized  by  true  no- 
bility of  tone.  It  was  surely  through  these  happy  gather- 
ings that  many  comrades  and  "Sons  of  Ben,"  learning  to 
understand  and  admire  the  character  and  art  of  Jonson, 
were  moved  to  accept  him  as  master  in  their  own  literary 
attempts. 

Lowell,  in  his  essay  on  Shakespeare  Once  More,  asserts 
that  "no  poet  of  the  first  class  has  ever  left  a  school,  be- 
cause his  imagination  is  incommunicable;"  that  "you  may 
detect  the  presence  of  a  genius  of  the  second  class  in  any 
generation  by  the  influence  of  his  mannerism,  for  that,  be- 
ing an  artificial  thing,  is  capable  of  reproduction."  -     It  is 
true  that  the  highest  poetic  gift  of  imagination  or  what 
Lowell  calls  "aeration  of  the  understanding  by  the  imagi- 
nation" can  not  be  imitated.     We  must  not  look  in  Jon-     | 
son's  dramatic  work,  nor  in  that  of  his  followers  as  influ-     | 
enced  by  him,  for  essential  charm,  for  deep  tenderness,     | 
for  sublime  tragedy  and  pathos,  for  the  inevitability  of    j 
the  very  greatest  poetry.     Many  truly  great  qualities  we     ■ 
may  find.     Jonson 's  place  is  not,  as  Swinburne  puts  it,    j 
among  the  gods  of  harmony  and  creation  in  English  lit- '; 
erature,  but  among  the  giants  of  energy  and  invention,    ■. 
where  he  stands  supreme. 

The  ethical  aim  Jonson  placed  foremost  in  his  theory  of |/ 

1  Jonson,  Works,  ed.  by  Giflford,  3  vols.,  Ill,  364,  365. 

2  Lowell,  Works,  Riverside  ed.,  Ill,  38. 


^/^ 


G  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COIMEDY 


comedy.  He  was  frankly,  consciously  didactic,  and  his 
/  whole  dramatic  career  was  a  battle  against  vice  and  folly. 
\  From  beginning  to  end,  he  assumed  the  attitude  of  a  cen- 
/  sor  and  reformer,  purposing  always  through  the  laughter 
I  of  comedy  to  improve  morals  and  correct  taste.  It  is  pos- 
r  sible  to  quote  many  passages  from  the  plays  where  the 
I    moral  intent  is  plainly  stated.     Asper  in  Every  Man  out 

aUSis  Humor,  representing  Jonson  himself,  declares: 

"with  an  armed  and  resolved  hand, 
I'll  strip  the  ragged  follies  of  the  time 
Naked  as  at  their  birth. 


'»  3 


I  fear  no  mood  stamped  in  a  private  brow. 
When  I  am  pleased  t'  unmask  a  public  vice.'' 
"  Well  I  \nll  scourge  those  apes, 
And  to  these  courteous  eyes  oppose  a  mirror. 
As  large  as  is  the  stage  whereon  we  act; 
Where  they  shall  see  the  time's  deformity 
Anatomized  in  every  nerve  and  sinew 
With  constant  courage,  and  contempt  of  fear." 

The  prologue  to  Volponc  defends  the  poet 

"Whose  true  scope,  if  you  would  know  it, 
In  all  his  poems  still  hath  been  this  measure. 
To  mix  profit  with  your  pleasure."'"* 

\  /      Again,  the  prologue  to  The  Alchemist  asserts  that 

"this  pen 
Did  never  aim  to  grieve,  but  better  men ; 
Howe'er  the  age  he  lives  in  doth  endure 
The  vices  that  slie  breeds,  above  their  cure. 

•■'Jonson,  Works,  T,  fi5 :    Induction. 
*  Ibid.,  T,  fi7. 
B  Ibid.,  I,  33(5. 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY  7 

But  when  the  wholesome  remedies  are  sweet, 
And  in*  their  working  gain  and  profit  meet. 
He  hopes  to  find  no  spirit  so  much  diseased, 
But  will  with  such  fair  correctives  be  pleased. ' '  ^ 

Even  in  the  masques  Jonson  does  not  forget  "that  rule    ' 
of  the  best  artist,  to  suffer  no  object  of  delight  to  pass    ; 
without    his    mixture    of    profit    and    example. ' '  ^     His 
m.ethod_of_tfiaching_5£as_b^  dramatic  satire.     Like  Swift,   ; 
Carlyle,    and   all   great  satirists,    Jonson   was   an   ardent 
idealist,  whose  spirit  was  so   deeply  stirred  by  the  con- 
trast betweeji  his  ideals  and  the  actualities  around  him\ 
that  in  passionate  bitterness  he  sought  to  scourge  men  out  \ 
of  their  follies  and  vices,  and  to  spur  them  by  negative  J 
teaching  to  knowledge  and  \irtue.  — 

Jonson  was  a  classicist,  and  his  comedies  were  written* 
under  the  guidance  of  "tart  Aristophanes,  neat  TerenceJ- 
witty  Plautus. "     He  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  Greela 
and  Latin  literature,  and  whether  the  need  were  in  plot,   w 
character,  description,  or  philosophical  maxim,  there  was 
no  lack  of  material  from  classical  sources  stored  up  in 
the  poet's  mind  ready  to  be  poured  forth.     His  was  what  \/ 
Dr.   Schelling  calls  an   ' '  assimilative   classicism. ' '     What  .^ 
he  read  he  made  so  completely  his  own  that  Ms  illustra,- 
tions  and  quotations  from  the  classics  form   an  organic 
part  of  his  Avritings.     Symonds  says  of  him:   "He  held 
the  prose  writers  and  poets  of  antiquity  in  solution  in  his 
spacious  memory.     He  did  not  need  to  dovetail  or  weld 
his  borroA^-ings  into  one  another;  but  rather,  having  fused 
them  in  his  own  mind,  poured  them  plastically  forth  into 
the    mold    of    thought. ' '  ^     However,    as    Jonson    himself 
asserts  both  in  the  prologue  to  Every  Man  out  of  His 

fi  Jonson,  Works,  II,  4. 

■^llid.,  Ill,  45. 

8  Syuionds,  Ben  Jonson,  52. 


8  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Humor  and  in  the  Discoveries,  he  was  no  slavish  follower 
of  the  ancients,  but  alwaj's  so  broadened  classical  theories 
as  to  make  them  applicable  to  English  conditions.  The 
artistic  logic  and  careful  construction  as  Avell  as  the  finish 
and  restraint  of  his  comedies  were  due  in  large  measure 
to  his  understanding  knowledge  of  the  spirit  and  form 
of  classic  comedy. 

He  was  a  scholar-poet  and  his  learning  embraced  not 
only  Latin  and  Greek  knowledge  but  also  Renaissance 
lore  and  literature,  and  even  extended  to  the  arts  and 
sciences  of  his  own  day.  "Whether  the  subject  were 
alchemj^,  cookery,  botany,  or  cosmetics  he  wrote  with 
equal  fullness  and  ease.  Furthermore,  he  was  the 
only  playwright  of  the  times  who  sought  to  avoid  anachro- 
nisms and  had  conscientious  regard  for  historical  accuracy. 
Symonds  closes  his  study  of  Jonson  ^dth  this  tribute: 
"What  we  most  marvel  at  in  his  writings,  is  the  prodigious 
brain-work  of  the  man,  the  stuff  pf  constant  and  inex- 
haustible cerebration  they  contain.  Moreover,  we  shall 
not  be  far  wrong  in  sajdng  that,  of  all  the  English  poets 
of  the  past,  he  alone,  with  ]\Tilton  and  Gray,  desen'es  the 
name  of  a  great  and  widely  learned  scholar. ' '  ® 
/  With  this  weight  of  learning,  Jonson  naturally  does  not 
/  rule  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heart  but  in  the  realm  of  the 
intellect.  The  appeal  in  all  his  dramas  is  directly  and 
i  fundamentally  intellectual.  He  cares  to  win  commenda- 
V^tion  only  from  "the  judicioas. "  In  the  prologue  to 
Cynthia's  Revels,  he  describes  the  audience  sought  by  his 
muse: 

"Pied  ignorance  she  neither  loves  nor  fears. 
Nor  hunts  she  after  popular  applause, 
Or  foamy  praise,  that  drops  from  common  jaws: 
The   garland  that  she  wears,   tlirir  linnds  nuist    jwine, 

»  Symonds,  Ben  Jonson,  198. 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY  9 

"Who  can  both  censure,  understand,  define, 
What  merit  is."i<> 

The  Staple  of  News  is  referred 

"To  scholars  that  can  judge  and  fair  report 
The  sense  they  hear,  above  the  vulgar  sort 
Of  nut  crackers,  that  only  come  for  sight. ' '  ^^ 

Jonson  deliberately  chose  to  make  supreme  the  things  of 
the  understanding,  hence,  the  subordination  of  the  love 
motive  throughout  his  dramas.  We  must  not  seek  from 
him  tender  romance  or  beautiful  love  story.  Perhaps  he 
was  criticised  for  disregard  of  this  element,  so  universally 
dear  to  men  and  women,  and  was  making  reply  in  his 
verse  in  The  Forest,  Why  I  ^¥rite  not  of  Love: 

* '  Some  Act  of  Love 's  bound  to  rehearse, 
I  thought  to  bind  him  in  my  verse : 
Which  when  he  felt.  Away,  quoth  he, 
Can  poets  hope  to  fetter  me  ? 
It  is  enough,  they  once  did  get 
INIars  and  my  mother,  in  their  net : 
I  wear  not  these  my  wings  in  vain. 
With  which  he  fled  me ;  and  again. 
Into  my  rhymes  could  ne  'er  be  got 
By  any  art:  then  wonder  not 
That  since,  my  numbers  are  so  cold, 
When  Love  is  fled,  and  I  grow  old."  ^- 

Hence,  too,  the  lack  of  feeling  for  nature,  the  entire  ab- 
sence of  that  background  of  English  fields  and  woods  that 
we  find  in  Shakespeare  or  Heywood.     Jonson,  as  he  him- 

10  Jonson,  WorTcs,  I,  14S. 
ii/6!f?.,  II,  278. 
12  Z&K?.,  Ill,  262. 


10  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  CO:\IEDY 

self  well  knew,  was  not  *  *  nature 's  child, ' '  and  we  must  not 
expect  in  his  plays  the  scent  of  the  violet  by  a  mossy  stone 
nor  the  soft  lights  and  shadows  of  the  Forest  of  Arden. 

London  was  the  cradle  of  Jonson  's  genius,  and  London 
is  the  scene  of  all  his  .jti^incipal  comedies  except  Volpone, 
and  even  that  is  the  outcome  of  his  studies  of  London  life, 

(He  knew  the  court  and  the  city  and  could  give  transcripts 
from  high  life  and  low  life.  He  takes  us  to  the  taverns, 
the  private  houses,  the  fairs,  the  market-places,  the  trades- 
men's shops,  the  courts  of  justice,  the  theaters,  the  aisles 
of  St.  Paul's,  and  portrays  to  us  what  was  said  and  done 
in  the  public  and  private  life  of  contemporary  London. 
The  prologue  to  The  Alchemist  declares: 

f         "Our  scene  is  London,  'cause  we  would  make  known, 
^  No  country's  mirth  is  better  than  our  own."^^ 

Jonson  with  keen  vision  noted  every  detail  of  the  world 
/around    him    that   might    contribute    to    the    ' ' satirically 
\^  heightened  picture  of  contemporary  life"  that  it  was  the 
especial  object  of  his^rtTo  produce. 

Chaucer,  Jonson 's  great  predecessor  in  the  study  and  por- 
trayal of  London  life,  was  a  product  of  the  early  Renais- 
sance, and  Shakespeare,  who  alone  among  contemporary 
writers  was  his  equal  as  an  observer,  expressed  fully  and 
richly  the  spirit  of  the  later  Renaissance.  Jonson  liimsolf 
was  at  every  point  the  complete  antithesis  of  all  that  the 
Renaissance  stood  for.  Chaucer  and  Shakespeare  looked 
on  the  life  around  them  with  frank  wonder,  wide  sympathy, 
and  spontaneous  enthusiasm  of  heart;  while  Jonson 's  at- 
titude was  always  that  of  careful  scrutiny,  judicial  regard 
for  ethical  values,  and  unfailing  self-consciousness.  AYliere 
they  sought  simply  to  know  and  picture  the  world  as  they 
found  it,  tlioir  senses  ever  alert  for  beauty  and  the  highest 

18  Jonson,  ll'orA-.^,  II,  4. 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY  11 

truth  implicit  in  beauty,  he  could  never  free  himself  wholly 
from  a  bookishness  that  came  often  perilouslj'  near  pedan- 
try, an  overweening  regard  for  authority,  and  an  attitude  of 
assumed  censorship.  He  was  the  chief  representative  of 
"the  se|3^ool  of  conscious  effort""  in  Elizabethan  drama, 
with  all  that  that  implies  of  faultsjind  YlT't.npK.  A  simple,^ 
unaffected,  purely  artistic  picture  of  contemporary  life  we 
do  not  get  from  him. 

As  has  often  been  pointed  out,  the  e.g2hasis  in  Jonson's 
comedies  is  on  the  characters  rather  than  the  plots.  "With 
His  first  play  he  gave  the  portrayal  of  character  a  new  im- 
portance in  English  comedj'.  He  seems  to  have  conceived^ 
his  persons,  then  invented  plots  to  bring  out  their  predomi-  Xy 
nant  qualities  from  as  many  different  aspects  as  possible./ 
In  the  typical  Jonsonian  comedy,  as  jNIiss  Woodbridge  has 
carefully  demonstrated,  the  dramatis  personce  can  always 
be  divided  into  two  groups,  a  large  group  of  victims  and 
a  small  group  of  victimizers,  or  those  possessed  b}'  folly  and 
those  possessed  of  guile.^^  Further,  the  characters  do  not 
gi-ow  or  become,  but  remain  fully  determined  and  station- 
ary; hence  we  have  revelation  and  not  development.  This 
is  a  natural  outcome  of  Jonson's  regard  for  unity  of  time 
and  his  restriction  of  the  action  of  a  play  within  twenty- 
four  hours.  /,'-■ 

Jonson's  treatment  of  character  is  original  and  peculiar 
in  his  use  of  humors,  and  his  emphasis  of  both  superficial 
peculiarities  and  eccentricities  that  strike  into  character 
itself.  He  makes  use  of  oddities  of  dress  or  manner,  but  I 
he  also  goes  deeper  to  individual  t^vists  and  imperfections.  ! 
"Among  the  English,"  Drj'den  says,  "by  humor  is  meant 
some  extravagant  habit,  passion,  or  aft'ection,  particular  to 
some  one  person,  by  the  oddness  of  which  he  is  immediately 
distinguished  from  the  rest  of  men ;  which  being  lively  and 

1*  Schelling,  Elisahethan  Drama,   I,   p.   XXXII. 
15  Woodbridge,  Studies  in  Jonson's  Comedy,   42. 


12  JOXSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

naturally  represented,  most  frequently  begets  that  mali- 
cious pleasure  in  the  audience  which  is  tastified  by  laugh- 
ter; as  all  things  which  are  deviation  from  the  common 
customs  are  ever  the  aptest  t(>  produce  it.  .  .  .  The 
description  of  these  humors,  drawn  from  the  knowledge 
and  observation  of  particular  persons,  was  the  peculiar 
genius  and  talent  of  Ben  Jonson."^"  However,  no  de- 
scription of  humors  can  be  better  than  that  which  Jonson 
himself  gives  in  Every  Man  out  of  His  Tlumor: 

"As  when  some  one  peculiar  quality 
Doth  so  possess  a  man,  that  it  doth  draw 
All  his  effects,  his  spirits,  and  his  powers. 
In  their  confiuetions,  all  to  run  one  way, 
This  may  be  truly  said  to  be  a  humor. 
But  that  a  rook,  by  wearing  a  pyed  feather. 
The  cable  hatband,  or  the  three-piled  ruff. 
A  yard  of  shoe-tye,  or  the  Switzer's  knot 
On  his  French  garters,  should  affect  a  humor! 
O,  it  is  more  than  most  ridiculous."  '' 

Jonson  is  not  always  true  to  his  theory  here,  and  in  spite  of 
Avhat  he  says,  a  humor  is  often  a  superficiality  and  a  con- 
scious or  unconscious  affectation. 

/^  He  creates  each  of  his  persons,  then,  out  of  a  main  trait 
[  or  eccentricity  which  rules  that  person  in  all  he  does  and 
V^says.     Such  a  method  leads  to  an  emphasis  of  the  type, 
l/and  has,  on  the  one  hand,  the  danger  of  pereonal  satire 
Jin  too  great  conerotcnoss,  and  on  the  other  liand,  that  of 
^allegory  in  too  groat  abstraction.'*     Into  each  of  these  ex- 
tremes Jonson  fell  at  times.     Here  is  that  same  tendoncy 
to  abstraction  wliuJj^iiii;i-j::cJtpjj(MjjTd.-Juuv  and  iijiaiu^fi'om 
the  moi^alities  straight  on  down  through   English  drama. 

i«  Dryden,  Essays,  od.  by  Ker,  I.  85,  8(5. 

iTjonscin,   Works,  I,  (57;   Indurlinti. 

IS  Woodbridge,  Studies  in  Jonsvn's  Comedy,  33. 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSOX'S  COMEDY  13 

The  very  names  of  Jonson's  personages  are  allegorical  and 
aim  to_set  forth  a  predominant  characteristic.  He  dwells_ 
on  one  motive  presented  under  many  conditions,  and  his 
characters  in  varied  relations  do  jii§t_vvhat  we  should  logic- 
ally expect ;  thus,  while  they  gain  in  emphasis  and  dis- 
tinctness, they  lose,  in  reality  and  humanness.  for  people 
are  mixtures  of  motives  and  by  no  means  always  act  logic- 
ally in  accordance  with  what  we  should  expect  from  one 
characteristic  that  we  happen  to  know.  It  is  a  detached 
ratherthan  a  sympathetic  view  of  human  nature.  However, 
we  do  get  clear  conceptions  of  Jonson's  pei*sonages,  and  re- 
member distinctly  such  creations  as  Mosca,  Face,  or  Zeal- 
of-the-Land  Busy.  The  types,  too,  are  often  more  than 
local  and  immediate;  they  are  universal,  such  as  we  our- 
selves meet  in  contemporary  life.  Jonson  attains  the  same 
kind  of  reality  that  Bunyan  gives  us  in  Pilgrim's  Progress. 
Here  we  have  the  highest  development  of  the  allegorical 
method  in  the  presentation  of  character.  Our  attention 
is  fixed  upon  a  quality  embodied  in  a  person  rather  than 
upon  the  person  possessing  a  certain  quality.  For  such 
treatment  of  character  there  is  a  legitimate  place  in  litera- 
ture, for  we  often  meet  people  in  daily  life  who  impress 
us  by  their  embodiment  of  self-assertion  or  of  testiness,  of 
jealousy  or  of  hypocrisy,  long  before  we  feel  their  human 
personality. 

What  are  some  of  the  prominent  types  of  character  in 
Jonson's  comedies?  We  find  recurring  again  and  again 
the  denunciation  of  those  who  practice  particular  forms 
of  vice  and  folly.  Alchemists  are  satirized  in  the  masque 
Mercury  Vindicated  as  well  as  in  XJie  Alcliemistj.  the  wor- 
ship of  Mammon  is  exposed  over  and  over  in  Volpone,  The 
Alchemist,  The  Staple  of  News,  and  The  Magnetic  Lady; 
thevolupluary  is  painted  in  unsparing  pictures  in  Volpone 
and  The  Alchemist;  the  hypocrisy  and  canting  phraseology 
of  the  Puritans  are  held  up  to  ridicule  in  Bartholomew  Fair 


■14  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 


and  The  Alchemist.     We  find  masterful  portraits  of  the<^ 
cTever"Brainy~Fascal  in  Mosca,  Faee^  Subtle^  or  Brainworm ; 


/for  Jonson  had  decided  admiration  and  sympathy  for  the  in- 
l  telleet  it  takes  to  make  a  thorough-going  rascal.  Simple- 
tons, town  and  country  gulls,  appear  in  various  aspects  in 
Stephen,  Matthew,  La-Foole,  John  Daw,  Fit^dotterel,  Kas- 
tril,  and  Cokes,  and  these  seem  to  have  affected  vividly  the 
imagination  of  later  play^mghts.  Bobadil,  the  supreme 
representative  of  the  bragging,  swaggering,  disbanded  sol- 
dier living  by  his  wits,  is  well  seconded  by  Tucca  and  Shift. 
TKe  projectors,  Meercraft  and  Engine,  are  the  ancestors 
of  a  long  line  of  descendants  in  later  plays.  Sir  Politick 
Would-be  of  Volpone  and  the  various  intelligencers  in  Utc 
Staple  of  News  represent  those  who  make  a  business  of  dis- 
tributing sensational  news  drawn  largely  from  their  own 
imagination.  In  Fastidious  Brisk,  Fungoso  and  Amorphas, 
Jonson  satirizes  the  affected  courtier  and  fool  of  fashion 
toward  whom  he  always  felt  the  most  unmitigated  con- 
tempt. Such  are  the  types  that  recur  most  frequently  in 
Jonson 's  comedies  and  most  readily  invite  imitation  on  the 
part  of  his  disciples  and  followers. 

'  The  plots  are  in  almost  all  eases  Jonson 's  own  invention. 
He  starts  with  the  character,  prepares' situations  to  pre- 
sent these  as  clearly  and  fully  as  possible,  and  then  com- 
bines the  situations  in  plots.  There  is '  much  episodic 
humor-study  in  the  earlier  plays,  where  the  consideration 

I    of  a  person's  peculiarities  is  an  end  in  itself.     The  plots 

1  are  series  of  closely  woven  intrigues  and  skillful  tricks, 
jLf  planned  and  executed  by  some  of  the  characters  as  in- 

I  triguere  against  the  others  as  victims.  We  are  sometimes 
bewildered  by  the  multitude  of  persons,  incidents  and  situ- 
ations placed  before  us  without  a  clear  and  unifying  line 
of  interest  in  Every  Man  out  of  His  IJumor,  Cynthia's 
Revels,  or  The  Vuttaslcr.  The  complexity,  however,  as 
Miss  Woodbridge  has  shown,  is  really  on  the  surface  and 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY  15 

the  underlying  plan  is  very  simple.^^  The  critics  who  cen- 
sure Jonson  for  lack  of  constructive  power  must  form  their 
judgment  from  the  above  plays  rather  than  from  his  ma- 
ture work  and  those  marvels  of  logical  construction,  Vol- 
pone,  The  Silent  Woman,  The  AlcJie7nist i_^and  Bartholomew 


Fair^   Here  every  individual  trick  is  woven  into  the  cen-   I  y^ 
tral  line  of  intrigue  so  that  we  get  complete  unity  of  im-    j        | 
pression.     It  was  Coleridge  who  declared  The  Alchemist 
to  have  one  of  the  three  best  plots  in  existence. 

The  unities  of  time  and  place  are  regarded  in  that  Jon-    i 
son  confines  his  action  within  the  limits  of  twenty-four    1 
hours  and  within  the  boundaries  of  one  city  or  town.     The 
unity  of  action  is  perfectly  preserved  in  Volpone  or  The     ^ 
Alchemist  through  all  the  schemes  and  incidents,  but  in 
Cynthia's  Revels  or  The  Poetaster  is  kept  only  by  means  of    / 
a  uniform  tone  in  the  comic  element,  the  centralization  of     , 
comic  episodes  in  the  group  of  chief  intriguers,  and  the  ar-  \ 
rangement  of  having  all  the  persons  know  one  another.^" 
The  action  is  always  the  inevitable  and  strictly  logical  re-    ' 
suit  of  the  motives  presented  in  character.     The  plays  hav^ 
no  central  climax,  no  distinct  rising  and  falling  action,  but  j 
push  on  through  a  network  of  tricks  to  the  last  act,  where  1  \ 
results  are  disclosed.     Jonson  likes  to  make  the  discovery  ♦  -^ 
of  the  trickeiy  seem  unavoidable  in  the  latter  part  of  the  \  | 
fourth  act,  as  in  Volpone,  The  ^Alchemist,  or  Bartholomeiv' 
Fair,  then  on  the  veiy  appearance  of  failure  build  up  a 
new  success  before  the  final  exposure. 

There    are    several   minor   matters    in    which    Jonson 's 
usage  was  original  and  had  considerable  effect  on  other 
dramatists.     His  prologues  and  epilogues  were  marked  by  a  V 
novel  independence  of  attijtude  towarST  the  public  and  a.  / 
definite    announcement    of   moral    and    artistic    purposes. 
The  inS^iictron,  where  two  or  more  persons  discuss  the  play 

i»  Woodbridge,  Studies  in  Jonson's  Comedy,  42. 
^oihid.,  54. 


16  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  CO:\IEDY 

to  be  given  and  expound  opinions  on  things  in  general,  is 
a  favorite  Jonsonian  device  to  forestall  criticism  and 
set  forth  the  author's  own  views.  Several  plays  have  a 
character  M'hose  especial  function  is  to  comment  on  the 
process  of  the  action  and  serve  as  what  Miss  AVoodbridge 
calls  a  "demonstrator" — such  are  Macilente  in  Every  Man 
out  of  His  Humor  and  Crites  in  Cynthia's  Revels.  In  the 
presentation  of  character,  one  personage  is  frequently  made 
to  describe  another  and  prepare  the  way  for  his  entrance 
upon  the  stage.  This  is  an  indirect  and  expository  method 
of  getting  quickly  before  the  audience  prevailing  char- 
acteristics by  w^hat  others  say  rather  than  by  what  the  per- 
son does  and  says  himself.  Jonson  did  much  to  make  pop- 
ular in  English  comedy  of  the  time  a  number  of  words  par- 
ticularly applicable  to  his  plots  and  types  of  character, 
such  as  "humor,"  "gull,"  "cozen,"  "engine,"  "pro- 
ject," or  "device,"  and  also  many  oatlis,  terms  of  pro- 
testation, and  slang  phrases,  current  in  the  street  language 
of  the  day. 

As  to  form,  sometimes  we  find  blank  verse  and  prose  al- 
most equally  divided,  as  in  Every  Man  in  His  Humor  and 
Evei'y  Man  out  of  His  Humor;  sometimes  blank  verse  alone, 
as  in  The  Alchemist,  or  proge  alone,  as  in  Bartliolomcu-'s 
Fair;  and  again,  the^two  forms  combined  in  varying  {propor- 
tions. A  writer's  general  characteristics  in  literary  temper, 
construction,  style,  are  usually  repeated  in  his  versification, 
and  in  Jonson  we  find  no  exception.  Ilis  blank  verse  is 
marked  by  regularity  and  dignity,  restraint  and  careful 
woflgnajisTiTpT  liis  ear  was  atune  io  regularity  and  his 
lines  are  almost  absolutely  decasyllabic.     The  couplet   is 


frecjGcntly  usedT  Jonson's  verse,  as  compared  with 
Fletcher's,  is  characterized  by  a  certain  rigidity,  yet  he 
believed  in  fi-eedom  of  j )h riisi ngliTKl  t Ifere  TiFe  jnany  run  on 
lines!  Here,  his  iufTueiu'e  on  the  drama  of  his  time  was  not 
great,  because  the  tendency  in  dramatic  blank  verse  was 


CHARACTER  OF  JONSON'S  COMEDY  17 

toward   greater   freedom   and   fluency,   and   also   because 
comedy  "vvas  mofFand  more  making  use  of  prose.-^ 

V^e  have  before  us  now  the  distinguishing  features  of 
Jonson's  comedy  of  humors.  The  |oremost  innovation  is  | 
the  construction  of  personages  in  accordance  with  the 
theory  of  humors  so  as  to  bring  out  ruling  peculiarities  of 
conduct  or  character.  Jonson,  assuming  a  critical  and_ju^ 
dicial  attitude,  insisted  on  an  underlying  ethical  intent, 
and  gave  a  new  emphasis  and  ini]K)rtance  to  moral  satire 
against  contemporary  follies  and  vices.  Further,  his 
comed3^""sfands  for  coiLstructive  excellence,  constant  regard 
for  the  demands  of  form,  and  masterly  control  of  the  in- 
tricacies  of  intrigue.  A  background  oT~classical  learning 
and  a  high  appreciation  of  therules  of  classic  comed^,  vig- 
orous  realistic  portrayal  of  contemporary^  life,  self-con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  the  writer,  a  large  expository 
element,  and  an  original  iLse  of  prologue,  epilogue,  induc- 
tion, and  commentator  on  the  progress  of  the  action,  are  also 
characteristic  of  the  Jonsonian  comedy.  In  the  following 
chapters  we  shall  consider  how  far  Jonson's  immediate  con- 
temporaries and  later  "Sons"  were  influenced  by  these 
characteristics  of  his  comedy. 

21  Sclielling,    Easticard    Hoe    and    The    Alchemist,    Belles-Lettres 
Series,  p.  XXIX. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   INFLUENCE   OF   JONSON'S    COMEDY   ON   THAT    OF    HIS   IM- 
MEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES 

Jonson's  comrade  pla\^vriglits  were  affected  by  his 
comedy  of  humors  in  a  different  wny  from  his  later  dis- 
ciples and  ' '  Sons. "  To  the  former,  he  was  not  a  master  but 
a  fellow-worker.  They  watched  with  interest  his  develop- 
ment of  a  new  form  of  English  comedy,  chose  out  and  as- 
similated to  their  own  use  what  seemed  to  them  valuable 
or  popularly  pleasing.  In  their  plays,  therefore,  we  find 
his  ^influence  to  be  general  rather  than  particular.  There 
are  several  reasons  for  this.  First  of  all.  Chapman,  Beau- 
mont, and  the  others  were  men  of  independent  genius  who 
accepted  no  one  writer  as  complete  master;  but,  learning 
from  the  various  dramatists  of  the  time  where  each  had 
attained  greatest  success,  worked  out  individual  methods 
of  their  own.  The  prevailing  spirit  of  Elizabethan  drama 
was  romantic  and  most  of  Jonson's  companions  were  too 
thoroughly  in  touch  with  their  time  to  conform  to  any  great 
degree  to  the  classical  ideals  of  Jonson's  art.  Indeed, 
"the  whole  spirit  of  the  contemporary  drama,  its  careless- 
ness and  ease,  its  amateurishness,  its  negligent  construc- 
tion, its  borrowings  and  ])ilfei-ings,  Avore  alien  to  the  prac- 
tice of  his  art,  the  first  demands  of  which  were  originality 
of  design,  conscious  literary  consistency  and  a  professional 
touch  leading  at  times  to  mannerism."*  Then.  also.  Jon- 
son  never  met  with  uninterrupted  and  enthusiastic  success 
on  the  popular  stage,   and  the   Elizabethan   pluywrights 

1  Schellinp,  Eastitard  Hue  ami  The  Alchtminl,  licUesLettres  Se- 
ries, p.  XXVTI. 

i8 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  19 

were  interested  ini  producing  not  "closet  dramas"  but 
plays  that  would  act  and  win  approval  from  the  ordinary 
theater  audience  of  the  day. 

An  original  and  forceful  writer  must  necessarily  influ- 
ence his  contemporaries  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  tind  a 
careful  study  of  all  the  Elizabethan  dramatists  would  prob- 
ably result  in  the  discovery  of  at  least  minor  effects  on 
most  of  those  who  wrote  after  Jonson  had  produced  his 
first  satirical  pictures  of  contemporary  life.  But  to  trace 
influences  is  a  subtle  process,  and  the  searcher  is  in  danger 
of  finding  what  he  is  looking  for,  rather  than  what  ac- 
tually exists.  We  shall  confine  our  study  in  this  chapter 
to  the  group  of  contemporary  writers  who  show  most 
clearly  effects  of  Jonson 's  comedy:  Chapman,  Marston, 
Shakespeare,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  and  Massinger  and 
Shirley,  who,  though  their  dramatic  careers  came  a  decade 
later,  belong  here  by  virtue  of  their  literary  relations  and 
the  character  of  their  work.  Two  anonymous  plays  written 
about  1600  also  require  consideration. 

Although  George  Chapman  was  some  fifteen  years  older 
than  Jonson,  yet  his  first  comedies,  The  Blind  Beggar  of 
Alexandria  and  A  Humorous  Day's  Mirth,  were  printed 
in  1598  and  159S'  and  produced  about  the  same  time  as 
Every  Man  in  H^s  Humor.  These  men  were  kindred 
spirits,  and  similarities  in  their  work  are  assuredly  in  part 
due  to  like  qualities  of  temperament  and  like  modes  of 
education  rather  than  to  direct  influence.  Both  had  read 
deeply  in  classical  literature  andboth  had  caught  the 
spirit  of  ancient  learning.  A^ChapmanWas  so  much  the 
elder,  perhaps  Jonson  was  led  byTrint-tu  become  a  student  in 
the  school  of  Terence  and  Plautus.  Both  adopted  directly 
and  with  mutual  sjnnpathy  the  classical  ideal  of  comedy,  its 
intrigue,  satire  and  conscious  restraint;  so  that  we  find 
them  for  the  most  part  developing  side  by  side  rather  than 
as  leader  and  follower.     Both  possessed  genuine  scholar^ 


20  JOXSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

ship,  both  used  frequent  classical  allusions,  both  made  not 
an  emotional  but  an  intellectual  appeal,  and  both  were 
characterized  by  conscious  effort. 

Jonson  told  Drummond  of  Ilawthomden  that  Chapman 
was  "loved  of  him,"  and  their  correspondence  shows  that 
they  were  life-long  friends.-  In  the  Underwoods  we  find 
lines  of  warm  admiration  addressed  to  "-My  worthy,  and 
Honored  Friend,  Master  George  Chapman."-  On  both 
Sejanus  and  Volpone  Chapman  wrote  complimentary 
verses.  In  the  character  of  Virgil  in  llic  Poeiaattr  Jonson 
is  supposed  to  portray  Chapman.  Henslowe  's  Diary  records 
a  payment  of  £1,  Dec.  3,  1597,  to  Jonson  for  a  plot;  and 
final  payment  Jan.  8,  1599,  to  Chapman  for  a  tragedy  on 
' '  bengemens  plotte. ' '  ^  Nor  must  we  forget  that  they  were 
co-authors  in  Eastward  Hoe  and  together  were  imprisoned 
for  references  to  Scotch  fashions  and  kuights  considered 
by  a  sensitive  Scotchman  as  lacking  in  due  respect.  Close 
personal  associations  and  common  literary  tastes  make  us 
expect  likenesses  in  the  comedies  of  Chapman  and  Jonson. 

In  The  Blind  Beggar  of  Alexandria,*  Chapman  has  writ- 
ten a  comedy  of  the  romantic  type,  making  use  of  dis- 
guise and  caring  little  for  the  discrimination  of  cliaracter, 
without  any  satirical  or  ethical  intent  and  with  the  use 
of  humor  only  in  the  general  early  Elizabethan  sense. 
When  we  turn  to  A  Humorous  Day's  jlirUi,  we  have  the 
word  humor  with  the  Jonsouian  signification,  several  char- 
acters conceived  in  Jonson 's  manner,  a  string  of  episodes 
and  a  series  of  tricks  such  as  make  up  the  slight  plots  of 
Every  Man  in  His  Humor  and  Every  Man  out  of  His 
Humor.  The  Comedy  of  Humors  was  performed  by  the 
Admiral's  Men  as  a  new  play,  Muy  11,  1597.     Among  the 

2  Originully  prefixed  to  Chnpniun's  Trunslntion  uf  Uiniud's  ]\'orks 
and  Days,  1018. 

a  lleiiHlowe'H  Diarii,  ed.  by  W.   \V.  (irejj;.   11,   ISS,    1<.><>. 

*  I'liiited  151)8.     I'Meay  givea  date  of  lirst  production,   15UG,  I,  55. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  21 

properties  mentioned  are  hose  for  Verone's  son  and  a  cloak 
for  Labesha,  these  being  characters  in  A  Humorous  Day's 
Mirth;  so  it  would  seem  that  this  play  was  first  acted  in 
1597.  Accepting  1597  as  the  date  of  the  production  of  A 
Humorous  Day's  Mirth  and  1598  as  that  of  Every  Man  in 
His  Humor,  we  certainly  have  in  the  former  a  forerunner 
of  the  comedy  of  humors  developed  by  Jonson.  Perhaps 
Jonson  and  Chapman  talked  over  together  the  idea  of 
"humorous"  characters  and  at  the  same  time  were  seeking 
to  work  it  out  in  plays.  Lemot  in  A  Humorous  Day's 
Mirth,  assumes  the  position  of  demonstrator  and  on  his 
first  appearance  announces,  ' '  thus  will  I  sit,  as  it  were,  and 
point  out  all  my  humorous  companions. ' '  Blanuel,  who  is  a 
"complete  ape,  so  long  as  the  compliments  of  a  gentleman 
last";  Dowsecer,  the  young  student  possessed  by  melan- 
choly and  misanthropy;  and  Florilla,  the  Puritan  wife 
whose  vaunted  Puritanism  when  put  to  the  test  proves  to 
be  but  superficial — these  are  personages  of  the  humorous 
type. 

All  Fools  ^  has  many  points  of  likeness  to  Jonson 's  best 
comedy  of  humors.  Swinburne,  it  vnll  be  remembered,  con- 
siders this  one  of  the  finest  comedies  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. Here  is  that  same  excellence  of  reflective  wisdom 
and  practical  philosophy  of  life  that  characterizes  Volpone 
or  The  Alchemist,  and  we  find  again  and  again  such  utter- 
ances as  these: 

"But  he's  the  man  indeed  that  hides  his  gifts. 

And  sets  them  not  to  sale  in  every  presence ; ' ' 
' '  The  bold  and  careless  servant  still  obtains, 

The  modest  and  respective  nothing  gains ; ' ' 
' '  Such  an  attendant  then  as  smoke  to  fire. 

Is  jealousy  to  love ;  better  want  both 

Than  have  both." 

5  Printed  1G05;  Fleay  considers  The  World  Run  on  Wheels  of 
1599  the  same  play  as  All  Fools,  I,  57.     Henslowe,  II,  200,  203. 


22  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

The  plot  is  intricate  and  ingenious  and  sho^Ys  that  Chap- 
man had  been  taking  lessons  of  Jonson's  masters,  Plantus 
and  Terence.  The  various  schemes  are  remarkably  well 
managed,  and  Chapman  attains  here  what  is  for  hira  un- 
wonted success  in  threading  his  ■svay  clearly  through  the 
many  tricks  to  produce  an  effective  climax  and  a  unified 
impression.  As  Ward  remarks,®  there  is  some  resemblance 
in  the  conception  of  the  plot  to  that  of  Every  Man  out  of 
His  Humor  in  the  fact  that  all  the  characters  are  finally 
gulled.  The  theory  and  practice  of  gulling  are  set  forth 
very  fully.  This  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  char- 
acters : 

"Nay,  never  shun  it  to  be  call'd  a  gull ; 

For  I  see  all  the  world  is  but  a  gull ; 

One  man  gull  to  another  in  all  kinds : 

A  merchant  to  a  courtier  ls  a  gull ; 

A  client  to  a  lawyer  is  a  gull ; 

A  married  man  to  a  bachelor,  a  gull ; 

A  bachelor  to  a  cvickold  is  a  giiW ; 

All  to  a  poet,  or  a  poet  to  himself. ' '  ^ 

Rinaldo,  the  cynical  scholar,  is  the  central  person  who 
sets  all  the  other  personages  in  motion  and  comments  on 
what  takes  place.  The  description  of  Dariotto,  the  fash- 
ion-struck courtier,  is  in  perfect  accord  "vvith  Jonson's 
scorn  for  that  type  of  man  and  might  have  been  written 
of  Fastidious  Brisk: 

"  'Tis  such  a  picked  fellow,  not  a  liair 
About  his  whole  bulk,  but  it  stands  in  print. 
Each  pin  hath  his  due  place,  not  any  point 
But  has  his  perfect  tie,  fashion,  and  grace; 
A  thing  whose  soul  is  spot-ially  employed 
In  knowing  wliere  best  gloves,  best  stockings,  waistcoats 

"Ward,  IT,  434. 

7  Chapman,   Works,  cd.   hy    R.   II.   Slu-plind,  00;    All  Fools,  II.   1. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  23 

Curiously  -wrought,  are  sold;  sacks  milliners'  shops 

For  all  new  tires  and  fashions,  and  can  tell  ye 

What  new  devices  of  all  sorts  there  are, 

And  that  there  is  not  in  the  whole  Rialto 

But  one  new  fashion 'd  waistcoat,  or  one  nightcap."* 

Gostanzo,  the  over-careful  father,  as  completely  deceived 
as  the  Elder  Knowell  in  his  son's  knowledge  of  the  world; 
Cornelius,  the  upstart  gentleman,  jealous  of  his  wife's  ac- 
quaintance as  was  Kitely  or  Cor\dno;  Pock,  the  physician, 
who  can  lengthen  or  shorten  cures  at  his  discretion:  these 
are  personages  after  Jonson's  o-wn  heart.  The  play  has 
such  a  combination  of  prose  and  verse  as  we  find  in  Jon- 
son's earlier  comedies,  and  makes  frequent  use  of  the  vo- 
cabulary of  roguerv'  and  gulling,  "cozen,"  "device," 
"project,"  and  the  rest. 

May  Day  and  The  Widoiv^s  Tears  are  also  comedies  of 
intrigue  and  of  humors,  and  both  show  in  plot  the  influ- 
ence of  Italian  and  Roman  comedy.  The  former  portrays 
a  representative  of  simple  gulls  in  Innocentio  who  has  a 
great  ambition  to  be  introduced  at  an  ordinary,  and  be- 
lieves as  he  is  told,  that  there 's  no  prescription  for  gentility 
but  good  clothes  and  impudence.  In  Quintiliano,  who  un- 
dertakes to  coach  the  innocent  Innocentio  in  the  ways  of 
the  world,  appears  again  the  bragging,  swaggering  captain. 
The  Widow's  Tears  gives  ils  the  bold  Tharsalio  winning 
out  by  his  unwavering  self-confidence,  but  shows  little  if 
any  regard  for  the  idea  of  humors  in  the  construction  of 
character.  In  the  last  act  there  is  a  sharp  satire  of  farcical 
judicial  proceedings  in  the  person  of  the  governor,  ^yho  is 
made  to  say,  "in  matters  of  justice,  I  am  blind." 

The  Gentleman  Usher  and  Monsieur  D 'Olive  are  largely 
romantic  in  plot  and  tone,  but  have  also  connection  in  their 
personages  with  the  comed}^  of  humors.     The  former  de- 

8  Chapman,  Works,  72;  All  Fools,  V,  1. 


24  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

scribes  Pogio  as  the  never-failing  bringer  of  ill  news,  and 
portrays  the  humors  of  Bassiolo,  the  usher,  who  is  dis- 
tinguished by  "overweening  thought  of  his  own  worth." 
Monsieur  D 'Olive,  in  the  person  of  the  gentleman  about 
town,  w^hose  name  gives  title  to  the  play,  affords  a  most  suc- 
cessful humorous  study  of  a  combination  of  wag  and  fool. 
The  tricks  played  on  him  are  cleverly  managed,  and  he  is 
amusingly  and  completely  gulled.  The  manners  of  con- 
temporary high  life  are  realistically  portrayed  in  this  play, 
and  as  in  all  Chapman's  comedies,  we  find  frequent  clas- 
sical allusions.  The  satire  on  Puritans  and  on  the  use  of 
tobacco  in  one  of  D 'Olive's  speeches,  is  quite  in  the  manner 
of  Jonson.^ 

The  study  of  Chapman's  comedies  makes  evident  marked 
likenesses  to  Jonson's  in  the  use  of  tricks  and  intrigues 
for  effective  gulling,  in  the  production  of  characters  of 
humors,  in  the  use  of  classical  allusions,  and  in  a  satirical 
portrayal  of  contemporary^  manners.  Just  how  far  these 
likenesses  are  due  to  similar  development  and  how  far  to 
direct  influence,  it  is  impossible  to  determine. 

Marston  belongs  with  Chapman  and  Jonson  as  a  scholarly 
poet  and  member  of  the  school  of  conscious  effort."'  He 
too  had  studied  carefully  the  classic  dramatists  of  Roman 
comedy,  and  sought  to  confonn  to  classic  theories  of  art. 
His  scholarship  like  Jonson's  not  only  embraced  ancient 
learning  but  extended  also  to  the  knowledge  of  his  own 
time.  In  independence  of  the  public  ta.ste  of  the  day,  as- 
sumption of  censorship  and  invention  of  intrigue,  Jonsou 
and  Marston  are  also  to  be  closely  likened.  Wliile  IMarston 
prefers  to  give  his  comedies  a  foreign  setting,  and  has  laid 
the  scene  of  all  except  The  Dutch  Courlesan  in  Italy,  yet 
they  are  full  of  realistic  touches  from  surrounding  life. 
That  Jonson,  Chapman  and  ^larston  were  all  throe  akin 

0  Chapman,  Worlcs,  123,  124;   Monsieur  D'Olirr,  II.  1. 
loSchelling,  EUzahclhan  Drama,  1,  pp.  XXXII,  XXXV. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  25 

in  temper  and  training  and  could  work  together  in  com- 
plete harmony  is  proved  by  the  successful  product  of  their 
joint  labors  in  Eastward  Hoe. 

Marston's  personal  relations  with  Jonson  were  not  those 
of  undisturbed  good  fellowship  such  as  we  found  existing 
between  Chapman  and  Jonson.  The  earliest  connection 
that  we  know  of  is  in  the  ' '  War  of  the  Theaters ' '  ^^  between 
1598  and  1602,  where  Jonson  and  Marston  were  the  chief 
combatants.  Almost  all  of  the  plays  involved  in  the  con- 
troversy were  written  by  them  and  are  full  of  personal 
satire  directed  against  each  other.  Jonson  says  in  his 
Conversations  that  "he  had  many  quarrels  with  IMarston, 
beat  him  and  took  his  pistol  from  him."  This,  as  Cun- 
ningham notes,^^  must  have  taken  place  before  1604,  since 
Eastward  Hoe  was  acted  in  1605,  and  before  that  time  the 
poets  were  certainly  on  friendly  terms  again.  INIoreover, 
The  Malcontent,  printed  in  1604,  was  dedicated  to  Jonson 
in  most  flattering  words:  "Beniamino  Jonsonio,  poetae 
elegantissimo,  gravissimo,  amico  suo,  candido  et  cordato, 
Johannes  Marston,  musarum  alumnus,  asperam  banc  suam 
Thaliam,  D.  D.";^^  while  the  epilogue  pays  a  fine  compli- 
ment to  him  and  refers  to  his  forthcoming  play  The  Fox}^ 
Marston  also  wrote  a  commendatory  epigram  for  the  1605 
edition  of  Sejanus.  All  these  facts  show  tha^t  ]\Iarston 
came  to  have  a  high  and  hearty  admiration  for  Jonson 
and  his  work. 

Before  three  plays,  Antonio  and  Mellida,  The  Malcon- 
tent, and  What  You  Will,  Marston  introduces  preliminary 
dialogues  in  inductions  such  as  Jonson  was  particularly 
fond  of  using.^^     That  to   What  You   Will,  where  three 

11  Sclielling,  I,  475-491;   and  Penniman,  The  War  of  the  Theaters. 

12  Jonson,  Works,  III,  479. 

13  Marston,  Works,  1,  197. 
1*  Fleay,  II,  79. 

15  That  to  The  Malcontent  was  added  in  the  second  edition  and 
was  perhaps  written  by  John  Marston. 


26 


JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  CO:\rEDY 


poets  sit  upon  the  stage  and  talk  together,  is  decidedly 
Jonsonian.  Fleay  thinks  that  Sir  Signior  Snuff,  ^lonsieur 
Mew  and  Cavaliero  Blirt  signify  Armin,  Jonson  and  ]\Iid- 
dleton.^"  The  comedies  are  full  not  only  of  classical  al- 
lusions but  also  of  direct  quotations  from  Seneca,  Martial, 
Cicero,  Ovid,  and  other  of  the  Latin  writers  so  constantly 
appearing  in  Jonson 's  work.  Dignified,  weighty  reflections 
on  life  are  scattered  here  and  there,  as  from  The  Fawn: 

"Thus  few  strike  sail  until  they  run  on  shelf, 
The  eye  sees  all  things  but  his  proper  self ; "  ^" 

or  from  The  Malcontent: 

"Mature  discretion  is  the  life  of  state;"" 
"He  ever  is  at  home  that's  ever  wise."" 

The  satire  of  Chapman  is  marked  by  a  frank  cynicism, 
but  that  of  Marston  goes  further  even  to  bitterness.  In 
What  You  Will  one  of  the  characters  telLs  us  to  "look  for 
the  satire."  In  this  play  is  described  the  seeming  vanity 
of  the  scholar's  search  for  knowledge: 


"Nay,  mark,  list.     Delight, 
Delight,  my  spaniel  slept,  whilst  I  baus'd  leaves, 
Toss'd  o'er  the  dunces,  pored  on  the  old  print 
Of  titled  words,  and  still  my  spaniel  slept. 
"Whilst  I  Avasted  lamp-oil,  bated  my  flesh, 
Shrunk  up  my  veins,  and  still  my  spaniel  slept. 
And  still  I  held  converse  wth  Zabarell, 
Aquinus,  Scotus,  and  the  musty  saw 
Of  antic  Donate;  still  my  spaniel  slept. 

18  Floay,  II,  76,  77. 

17  Marston,   Workft,  II.  204;    The  Fairn,  IV,   1. 

y»lbi(l.,  I,  202;    Thr  Malcontntt,  IV,  2. 

10  Ibid.,  I,  310;   The  Malcontent,  V,  3. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  27 

Still  on  went  I ;  first  an  sit  anima, 

Then,  and  it  were  mortal.    0  hold,  hold !  at  that 

They're  at  brain-buffets,  fell  by  the  ears  amain 

Pell-mell  together;  still  my  spaniel  slept. 

Then  whatever  'twere  corporeal,  local,  fix'd, 

Extraduce;  but  whether  't  had  free  will 

Or  no,  tho  philosophers 

Stood  banding  factions  all  so  strongly  propp  'd, 

I  stagger 'd,  knew  not  which  was  firmer  part: 

But  thought,  quoted,  read,  observed  and  pried. 

Stuff  'd  noting-books ;  and  still  my  spaniel  slept. 

At  length  he  waked  and  yawned  and  by  yon  sky, 

For  aught  I  know  he  knew  as  much  as  I. "  -*' 

Marston  satirizes  the  current  affectation  of  speech,  "  I 
protest,"  -^  the  habit  of  promiscuous  kissing  in  greetings,'^ 
the  curiosity  for  sensational  news,^^  the  cant  of  Puritan- 
ism,-* and  many  other  customs  and  conditions  of  the  time. 
It  was  to  Marston 's  didactic  satire  that  Jonson  referred 
in  the  Conversations  when  he  said,  "Marston  \\T*ote  his 
father-in-law's  preachings,  and  his  father-in-law  his  com- 
edies." 

In  characters,  there  is  some  slight  application  of  the 
theory  of  humors.  The  Duke  of  Ferrara,  disguised  as 
Malevole,  in  The  Malcontent,  belongs  to  the  type  of  ''hu- 
morous" cynical  railer  found  in  IMacilente.  Sometimes 
Marston  makes  the  name  indicate  ruling  quality  as  Male- 
vole,  or  Malheureux  in  The  Dutch  Courtesan,  or  Simplicius 
in  What  You  Will.  Coqueteur,  "a  prattling  gull,"  and 
^Cocledemoy,  "a  knavishly  witty  city  companion"  in  The 
Dutch  Courtesan,  begin  with  Jonsonian   conceptions  but 

20  Marston,  VTorTcs,  II,  363-364;   What  You  Will,  II,  2. 

2i/&id!.,  II,  346-347:  What  You  Will,  II,  1. 

^2  Hid.,  II,  46-47;   The  Dutch  Courtesan,  III,  1. 

23  Hid.,  II,  42-43;   The  Dutch  Courtesan,  II,  3. 

2iIUd.,  II,  62;   The  Dutch  Courtesan,  III,  3. 


/ 


28  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

are  not  developed  in  accord  with  the  Jonsonian  method. 
In  The  Fawn,  Gonzago,  the  weak  Duke  of  Urbin,  who  is 
filled  with  self-admiration  and  prides  himself  on  his  wit  and 
shrewdness,  is  completely  gulled  and  made  the  instrument 
of  furthering  the  marriage  he  is  seeking  to  prevent.  The 
Duke  of  Ferrara,  disguised  as  Faunus,  assumes  here  the 
office  of  censor  and  exposes  most  effectively  the  follies  and 
\'ices  of  the  other  personages.  Lampatho  Doria,  the  bitter 
satirist  of  What  You  Will,  is  identified  by  ]\Iarston  ynWx 
himself,  in  the  wrj  that  Jonson  so  often  uses  one  of  his 
dramatic  personages  as  a  mouthpiece  for  his  own  utter- 
ances. Simplicius  in  this  play  is  a  simple  gull  who  would 
affect  the  ways  of  the  fashionable  world.  Thus,  minor 
likenesses  may  be  found  between  ]\Iarston  and  Jonson  in 
the  characters  created,  but  on  the  whole,  ]\Iarston  con- 
ceived and  developed  his  personages  according  to  the  ro- 
mantic methods. 

The  Fawn  -^  and  What  You  Will  ^^  have  more  traces  of 
Jonson 's  influence  than  the  other  comedies,  not  only  in 
conception  of  character  but  also  in  vocabulary.  The  Fawn 
shows  a  marked  increase  in  the  use  of  Jonson 's  favorite 
oaths  and  terms  for  gulling  over  The  Maleontoit  and  The 
Dutch  Courtesan,  while  of  all  the  comedies  What  You  Will 
has  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  such  words.  This  would 
make  us  expect  to  find  What  You  Will  written  about  the 
same  time  as  The  Fawn,  perhaps  a  little  later,  after  I\rar- 
ston  had  worked  with  Jonson  on  Eastward  Hoe  and  had 
come  to  feel  for  liim  and  lii.s  work  a  friendly  admiration. 

In  scholarship,  conscious  effort,  classicism,  satire  and 
didacticism,  ^larston  shows  resemblances  to  Jonson,  due, 
it  would  .seem,  as  in  the  case  of  Chapman,  to  like  temj)or 
and  training  even  more  than  to  direct  inlhience.  How- 
ever, in  the  use  of  inductions  and  in  the  conception  of 

•J5  Printed  l(\(W,  acted,  according  to  Flony,  1(504;  Chronicle,  II.  70. 
-0  Printed  1607,  acted,  according  to  Fleay,  1601;  Chronicle  II,  76. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  29 

character,  there  certainly  was  exerted  some  definite  influ- 
ence. 

Shakespeare  and  Jonson  felt  for  each  other  warm  friend- 
ship and  hearty  admiration.  Although  their  purposes  and 
methods  in  writing  plays  were  very  different,  yet  as  men 
they  were  great  enough  and  keen  enough  each  to  recognize 
the  value  and  power  of  the  other's  work.  The  earliest 
trace  of  relationship  is  in  the  tradition  that  Shakespeare 
read  Every  Man  in  His  Humor,  saw  its  worth  and  recom- 
mended it  to  his  company,  thus  aiding  Jonson  at  a  time  of 
need  to  win  his  first  great  success  on  the  stage.  From  1598 
on  practically  to  the  end  of  his  career  Jonson  occasionally 
wrote  for  Shakespeare's  company. ^^  The  earliest  editions 
of  Every  Man  in  His  Humor  and  Scjanus  include  the  name 
of  Shakespeare  in  the  lists  of  actors.  There  is  a  possibility 
that  the  two  greatest  dramatists  of  the  age  collaborated  in 
the  first  version  of  Sejanus.  Jonson  in  the  preface  to  the 
quarto  states  that  "this  book  in  all  numbei's  is  not  the  same 
\\T.th  that  which  was  acted  on  the  public  stage;  wherein 
a  second  pen  had  good  share;  in  place  of  which  I  have 
rather  chosen  to  put  weaker,  and  no  doubt  less  pleasing 
of  mine  own,  than  to  defraud  so  happy  a  genius  of  his  right 
by  my  loathed  usurpation."  Fleay  tells  us  that  the  only 
known  -vvriters  at  this  date  for  the  King's  men,  who  acted 
the  play,  were  Wilkins,  "W.  S.,  Shakespeare,  and  possibly 
Tourneur.  Of  these,  Shakespeare  is  the  only  one  that 
could  have  been  the  second  pen  alluded  to,  and,  as  he  acted 
one  of  the  principal  parts,  he  may  have  inserted  or  altered 
scenes  in  which  he  himself  appeared.^® 

Shakespeare  stood  sponsor  for  one  of  Jonson 's  children. 
Both  frequented  the  Mermaid  Tavern,  and  their  wit  com- 
bats, celebrated  in  Fuller's  well-known  description,  must 
have  been  wonderful  to  hear.     There  is  another  tradition 

27  Fleay,  Chronicle  History  of  the  London  Stage,  157-160. 

28  Fleay,  Shakespeare,  50. 


;',U  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

that  in  1616,  just  before  Shakespeare's  death,  Jonson  and 
Drayton  visited  New  Place  in  Stratford  and  that  the  three 
poets  had  a  merry  meeting.-^  Jonson 's  own  attitude  to- 
ward his  fellow-poet  is  fully  expressed  in  the  Lines  pre- 
fixed to  the  folio  of  1623,  where  with  enthusiastic  and 
also  discerning  praise  he  addresses  "My  Shakespeare," 
"star  of  poets,"  "Sweet  Swan  of  Avon,"  "the  applause, 
delight  and  wonder  of  our  stage."  What  he  writes  of 
"my  beloved  Master  William  Shakespeare"  could  come 
only  out  of  years  of  intimate  association  and  affectionate 
admiration.  Again,  in  the  Timber,  he  tells  us  that  he 
"loved  the  man,"  and  honored  his  memorj'  "on  this  side 
idolatry. ' ' 

The  question  here  is,  do  Shal^espeare's  comedies  show 
any  reflex  influence  of  Jonson 's  theory  of  humors? 
Shakespeare's  genius  was  highly  adaptable.  He  had  not, 
like  Jonson,  fixed  dramatic  theories  in  accordance  with 
which  he  consistently  contructed  his  plays;  but,  observant 
of  all  artistic  forms  and  methods  of  the  time,  he  responded 
quickly  to  the  popular  taste  or  interest  of  the  moment, 
adopted  and  assimilated  to  his  own  use  whatever  seemed 
of  value  in  making  a  good  play  and  pleasing  the  public. 
About  1600,  Jonson 's  comedy  of  humors  and  ]\liddleton 's 
comedy  of  bare,  even  bitter,  realism  were  winning  great 
applause  on  the  Elizabethan  stage.  Surely  it  is  not  far- 
fetched to  discover  traces  of  Middleton's  influence  in  the 
N  tone  of  Measure  for  Measure  and  All's  Well  that  Ends 
Well.  So  also,  in  several  groups  of  irregular  humorists 
and  in  one  character  of  All's  Well  that  Ends  Well  Shake- 
speare does  show  the  effect  of  Jonson 's  conception  of 
humor. 

Koeppel  indicates  three  places  in  Jonson 's  comedies  in 
which  he  considers  the  situations  to  owe  sonu'thing  to  the 
iniluence  of  SiuLlcesi)eare :  in  The  Case  is  Altered,  the  re- 

20  Ilalliwell-riiillips,  Outlinea,  1898,  II,  70. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  31 

lation  of  Jaques  and  Rachel,  the  girl's  flight  to  her  lover, 
and  the  miser's  lament  over  his  gold  and  girl,  as  bearing 
direct  relation  to  The  Merchant  of  Venice;  in  The  Poetaster, 
the  love-scene  between  Ovid  and  Julia,  as  a  Romeo  and 
Juliet  situation;  in  Epicoene,  the  duel  episode  between  Sir 
John  Daw  and  Sir  Amorous  La-Foole  as  reminiscent  of 
that  in  Tivelfth  Night  between  Sir  Andrew  Aguecheek  and 
Viola.^°  Miss  Henry  in  her  edition  of  Epicoene  accepts 
Tivelfth  Night  as  a  source  of  Jonson's  play  and  carefully 
traces  likenesses  between  the  gulling  of  Daw  and  La-Foole 
by  Truewit  and  the  duel  between  Sir  Andrew  and  Viola 
as  urged  on  by  Sir  Toby.^^  However,  as  Dr.  Schelling 
points  out,  Jonson  was  not  in  the  habit  of  borrowing  ideas 
from  contemporary  dramatists,^-  and  these  parallels  are 
far-fetched  and  decidedly  doubtful. 

Six  plays  written  by  Shakespeare  between  1597  and  1602, 
Henry  IV,  Parts  I  and  II,  Henrg  V,  Merry  Wives  of  Wind- 
sor, Tivelfth  Night  and  All's  Well  that  Ends  Well,  show 
the  effects  of  Jonson 's  conception  of  humor.  It  was  Shake- 
speare, if  we  are  to  trust  the  old  tradition,  that  read  Every 
Man  in  His  Humor,  understood  the  greatness  of  its  basic 
idea,  and  prepared  the  way  for  its  production  in  15C'8. 
I  Henry  IV  was  acted  in  1597,  II  Henry  IV  in  1598,  Every 
Man  out  of  His  Humor  in  1599,  and  Henry  V  in  1599. 
Thus  the  three  historical  plays  coincide  in  time  with  the 
two  humor  plays  of  Jonson.  The  comedies.  Merry  Wives, 
Tivelfth  Night  and  AlVs  Well,  are  dated  between  1598  and 
1602,  when  the  humor  idea  was  at  the  height  of  its  novelty 
and  popularity. 

In  Henry  IV  Falstaff  and  his  followers  are  unlike  any 
previous  group  of  Shakespeare's  characters.     Touched  as 

soKoeppel,  Quellen  Studien,  2,  5-6,  11-12. 

31  Henry,  Aurelia:  Epiccene,  Yale  Studies  in  English,  XXXI, 
1906;   Introduction,  XXXV-XL. 

32  Schelling,  I,  540. 


1/ 


32  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

they  are,  humanized  as  they  are,  by  Shakespeare's  indi- 
vidual genius,  yet  humorous  are  they  also  in  their  concep- 
tion and  portrayal.  Falstaff,  himself  a  "trunk  of  hu- 
mors," forms  the  center  of  a  group  which,  while  the  in- 
dividual members  change  somewhat,  remains  a  source  of 
keen  interest  and  enjoyment  through  Henry  IV,  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor  and  Henry  V.  Falstaff,  "  not  only  witty 
in  myself  but  the  cause  that  wit  is  in  other  men,"  "huge 
bombard  of  sack,"  and  "vanity  in  years,"  believing  "the 
better  part  of  valor  is  discretion, ' '  troubled  with  ' '  the  dis- 
ease of  not  listening"  when  accusations  are  brought  against 
him,  and  having  "more  flesh  than  another  man  and  there- 
fore more  frailty,"  is  not  only  the  possessor  of  humors  but 
also  the  means  of  calling  forth  humors  in  others.  Prince 
Henry,  away  from  the  court  in  association  with  Falstaff, 
declares:  "I  am  now  of  all  humors,  that  have  showed  them- 
selves humors  since  the  old  days  of  goodman  Adam  to  the 
pupilage  of  this  present  twelve  o'clock  at  midnight."" 
Poins  and  Peto,  the  Prince's  attendants,  Gadshill,  and, 
above  all,  Bardolph  with  his  big  purple  nose,  "Knight  of 
the  burning  lamp,"  in  I  Henry  IV  take  part  in  the  es- 
capades, sack  festivities  and  wit  combats  of  which  Sir  John 
is  the  leader.  Ancient  Pistol  takes  the  place  of  Gadshill 
in  II  Henry  IV ,  and  here  also  are  introduced  Shallow,  an 
old  acquaintance  of  Sir  John's  earlier  years  and  now  a 
country  justice  whose  humor  is  to  prate  of  the  wildness 
of  his  youth,  and  Shallow's  cousin,  the  silent  Silence. 
This  cousin  is  replaced  by  another.  Slender,  the  simple, 
self -conceited  and  yet  fearful  wooer  of  Anne  Page,  in 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor.  Bardolph  and  Pistol  reappear 
and  Falstaff  has  a  new  follower  in  Corporal  Nym.  Plis 
humor  is  a  Imnior  and  his  comment  on  every  possible  oc- 
casion is  "that's  the  humor  of  it,"  "that's  my  humor," 
or  "I  thank  thee  for  that  humor."     Sir  Hugh  Evans,  the 

83  1  Jlniry  IV,  II,  4. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  33 

pedantic  Welsh  parson,  and  Dr.  Gains,  the  hot-tempered 
French  physician,  are  also  humorists.  Lieutenant  Bar- 
dolph.  Ancient  Pistol  and  Corporal  Nym  survive  to  follow 
the  King  to  the  French  Wars  in  Henry  V.  They  still  pos- 
sess their  individual  humors,  and  of  their  old  leader  Fal- 
staff,  who  has  just  died,  they  speak  with  regret  and  affec- 
tion. Nym  and  Bardolph  are  hanged  for  thieving  and 
Pistol  alone  returns  from  France,  old,  weary,  and  lonely 
without  his  former  companions.  Henry  V  has  a  new  group 
of  humorists  in  Fluellen,  the  pedantic  but  loyal  Welshman, 
Macmorris,  the  valiant  quick-tempered  Irishman,  and 
Jamy,  the  slow  solid  Scotchman,  over  all  of  whom  is  placed 
the  practical  Englishman,  Captain  Gower. 

Sir  Toby  Belch,  Sir  Andrew  Aguecheek,  and  Malvolio 
of  Twelfth  Night  are  most  successful  examples  of  the  use 
of  humors  in  the  creation  of  character.  Sir  Toby,  with  his 
weakness  for  quaffing  and  drinking  and  his  superficial 
learning,  has  yet  a  keen  wit  and  a  shrewd  insight  into  his 
fellow-sinners.  Sir  Andrew  Aguecheek  has  studied  fen- 
cing, dancing,  and  bear-baiting,  and  above  all  e\se,  can 
' '  cut  a  caper ' ' ;  but,  impressed  by  Sir  Toby 's  show  of  learn- 
ing, he  wishes  he  had  studied  the  tongues  and  arts.  His 
importance  to  Sir  Toby  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  has  three 
thousand  ducats  a  year  and  furnishes  that  impecunious, 
fun-loving  old  toper  with  opportunity  to  replenish  his  own 
empty  purse  and  to  have  some  sport  by  the  way.  Sir  An- 
drew ' '  besides  that  he 's  a  fool,  he 's  a  great  quarreler ;  and, 
but  that  he  hath  the  gift  of  a  coward  to  allay  the  gust  he 
hath  in  quarreling,  'tis  thought  among  the  prudent  he 
would  quickly  have  the  gift  of  a  grave. ' '  ^*  Malvolio  is 
"sick  of  self-love"  and  possessed  by  "the  spirit  of  humors 
intimate."  Maria,  a  "noble  gull-catcher,"  sets  out  to 
"gull"  him  and  "make  him  a  common  recreation."  As 
a  result  of  her  device,  he  appears  in  yellow  stockings, 

34  Twelfth  Night,  I,  3. 


34  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

cross-gartered,  and  with  a  wonderful  smile  such  that  "he 
does  smile  his  face  into  more  lines  than  are  in  the  new  map, 
with  the  augmentation  of  the  Indies."^'' 

In  Parolles  of  All's  Well  that  Ends  Well  we  have  a  char- 
acter very  different  from  most  of  Shakespeare 's  personages 
and  like  many  of  Jonson's.  He  is  "a  most  notable  coward, 
an  infinite  and  endless  liar,  an  hourly  promise-breaker, 
the  owner  of  no  one  good  quality."^®  Shakespeare  in- 
tends his  name  to  indicate  his  ruling  characteristic.  He 
is  nothing  but  words,  "there  can  be  no  kernel  in  this  light 
nut,  the  soul  of  this  man  is  his  clothes.""  Parolles  real- 
izes that  his  tongue  prattles  him  into  all  sorts  of  troubles, 
and  as  one  of  the  other  characters  who  hears  him  talking 
to  himself  says,  "the  wonder  is  that  he  should  know  what 
he  is  and  be  that  he  is."  A  plot  is  made  and  effectively 
carried  out  by  which  his  folly  and  falsehood  are  mercilessly 
exposed.  The  comic  portrayal  here  is  not  sympathetic,  as 
is  usual  with  Shakespeare,  but  wholly  satirical. 

Shakespeare  grasped  the  idea  of  humors  and  applied  it, 
not  rigidly  and  lifelessly,  as  did  many  of  the  later  drama- 
tists, but  sympathetically  and  humanly,  vitalizing  the 
theory  by  the  power  of  his  own  marvelous  genius,  lie  was 
not  beguiled  from  his  general  realistic  and  romantic  man- 
ner by  Jonson's  conception  of  comedy,  but  he  did  try  in 
Henri}  IV,  Henry  V,  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  Twelfth 
Night  and  All's  Well  that  Ends  Well  the  method  of  humor 
in  the  presentation  of  individual  diaracters. 

Two  anonymous  plays,  The  Fair  Maid  of  the  Ejcchange, 
and  Every  Woman  in  Her  Humor,  botli,  according  to 
Fleay,  acted  in  1602,  are  best  considered  here  before  we 
take  up  the  study  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.     The  title- 

3r.  Twelfth   Mfjht,  HI,  3. 

so  All's  Wdl  That  Knila  Well.  Ill,  0. 

ai  All's  Well  That  Ends  Well,  II,  5. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  35 

page  of  The  Fair  Maid  of  the  Exchange  advertises  the  play- 
as  presenting  ''the  Humors  of  the  Cripple  of  Fan- 
church  ' ' ;  and  the  father  of  the  heroine  is  characterized  in 
the  dramatis  personce  as  ' '  an  humorous  old  man ' ' ;  yet  in 
reality  the  only  personage  created  according  to  the  method 
of  humor  or  caricature  is  Bowdler,  "an  humorous  gallant," 
"an  hiimorous  blossom,"  "a  fond  humorist,  parenthesis  of 
jests,  whose  humor  like  a  needless  cypher  fills  a  room."  He 
puts  on  an  "antick  garment  of  ostentation,"  takes  especial 
pride  in  his  "caper  and  turn  o'  the  toe,"  and  pretends 
that  all  the  maids  he  meets  are  prone  to  love  him,  when  in 
truth  he  himself  is  afraid  to  speak  to  them  and  arouses 
their  merry  ridicule.  The  cripple  of  Fanchurch  under- 
takes and  effects  his  "purgation." 

Every  Woman  in  Her  Humor  is  an  example  of  the  height 
or  depth  of  crude  undiscerning  imitation,  and  was  written 
by  some  author  who  knew  little  of  human  character  and 
less  of  dramatic  construction.  The  title  was  plainly  sug- 
gested by  Jonson's  first  comedy  of  humors.  The  plot  is 
slight,  consisting  of  little  more  than  a  series  of  situations 
strung  together  on  a  slender  thread  of  accidental  connec- 
tion, and  lacking  the  underlying  unity  of  the  seemingly 
careless  plots  of  Jonson's  earlier  plays.  The  scene  is  laid 
in  Rome,  perhaps,  if  the  play  was  produced  in  1602,  in  imi- 
tation of  The  Poetaster  acted  in  1601 ;  but  the  stupid  an- 
achronisms bear  evidence  that  the  author  possessed  none  of 
Jonson's  regard  for  accuracy.  Some  of  the  characters  are 
direct  imitations  of  Jonsonian  personages.  Graccus  and 
Acutus  at  the  beginning  of  the  play,  like  Asper  and  Maci- 
lente  in  Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor,  discuss  "this  im- 
pious world."  Acutus  wears  "a  vizard  of  melancholy" 
and  rails  against  prevailing  follies  and  vices.  This  de- 
scription of  him  by  Tully  recalls  the  praises  of  Crites  in 
Cynthia's  Bevels: 


36  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

"his  spirit  is  free  as  air, 
His  temper  temperate,  if  aught 's  uneven, 
His  spleen  weighs  down  towards  lenity ;  but  how 
Stirred  by  reproof!  Ah,  then  he's  bitter  and  like 
His  name  Acute,  vice  to  him  is  a  foul  eyesore. 
And  could  he  stifle  it  in  bitterest  words  he  would. 
And  whoso  offends  to  him  is  parallel, 
He  will  as  soon  reprove  the  cedar  state 
As  the  low  shrub.  "^® 

Getica  is  even  more  foolishly  concerned  for  her  dog  than 
is  the  like  humorist  Puntarvolo  for  his  in  Every  Man  out 
of  His  Humor,  and  Acutus  longs  to  teach  it  "the  trick  of 
the  rope."  The  talkative,  fuss}^  but  honest  Host  is  ever 
ready  wdth  the  proverbial  expression  "dun's  the  mouse" 
or  "the  mouse  shall  be  dun."  The  Hostess  constantly 
complains  of  her  busy  life,  yet  seems  to  be  happy  in  it  and 
finds  recreation  in  a  lively  gossip.  The  citizen's  wife,  an 
Elizabethan  "Wife  of  Bath,  who  has  buried  six  husbands 
and  thinks  there  is  good  hope  that  she  may  have  as  many 
more,  loudly  resents  the  new  statute  which  forbids  a  wo- 
man to  marry  again  until  two  months  after  her  husband's 
death.  The  portraiture  of  these  vigorous  lower-class  per- 
sonages is  the  best  part  of  the  play.  In  dramatic  value, 
Every  Woman  in  Her  Humor  ranks  among  the  comedies 
of  humors  of  some  of  Jonsou's  later  follower  rather  than 
among  those  of  his  immediate  contemporaries. 

With  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  we  must  at  the  very  be- 
ginning remember  that  they  stand  fundamentally  as  rep- 
resentatives of  the  romantic  school.  They  were  influenced 
in  their  work  as  a  whole  far  more  by  i>receding  dramatists 
of  that  school  than  by  the  classical  and  conscious  art  of 
Jonson.  However,  they  were  first  of  all  ])ractical  play- 
as  Bulleu's  Old  Plays,  vol.  I\',  372;  Every  ^Voman  in  11*  r  Humor, 
V,  1. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  37 

Wrights  who  aimed  to  please  the  public  taste  of  the  time 
and  to  make  plays  that  would  act ;  so  they  chose  out  from 
the  methods  of  other  writers  what  suited  their  purposes. 
Their  own  method  was  eclectic,  and  they  found  it  possible 
in  their  earlier  days  to  get  valuable  instruction  from  Jon- 
son  in  matters  of  construction,  humorous  character- 
studies  and  versification.  Especially  is  this  true  of  Beau- 
mont M'ho  began  "writing  plays  decidedly  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Jonson. 

Beaumont  had  gained  the  friendship  of  Ben  Jonson  as 
early  as  1607,  for  in  that  year  we  find  him  addressing 
verses  that  show  good  critical  judgment  "To  my  Dear 
Friend,  Master  Ben  Jonson,  upon  his  Fox. ' '  Again,  in  1609 
he  wrote  commendatory  verses  on  The  Silent  Woman  and 
in  1611  on  Catiline.  However  improbable  may  seem  Dr\^- 
den's  statement  that  ''Beaumont  was  so  accurate  a  judge 
of  plays,  that  Ben  Jonson,  while  he  lived,  submitted  all 
his  writings  to  his  censure,  and  'tis  thought,  used  his  judg- 
ment in  correcting  if  not  contriving  all  his  plots, ' '  ^°  yet  it 
is  certainly  based  on  a  tradition  of  close  relationship. 
Beaumont's  Letter  to  Ben  Jonson  with  its  famous  descrip- 
tion of  the  gatherings  at  the  IMermaid  and  high  compliment 
to  Jonson 's  wit,  reveals  clearly  the  younger  man's  admira- 
tion and  enthusiasm  for  his  older  friend.*"  He  is  ready 
there  to 

"Protest  it  will  my  greatest  comfort  be 
To  acknowledge  all  I  have  to  flow  from  thee." 

The  short  poem  in  which  Jonson  makes  answer  to  this  letter 
is  full  of  cordial  appreciation  and  affectionate  regard: 

"How  I  do  love  thee,  Beaumont,  and  thy  muse 
That  unto  me  dost  such  religion  use ! 

38  Dryden,  Essays,  ed.  by  W.  P.  Ker,  T,  80. 
40  Jonson,  Works,  1,  CXIV-CXV. 


38  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

How  I  do  fear  myself,  that  am  not  worth 
The  least  indulgent  thought  thy  pen  drops  forth ! 
At  once  thou  mak'st  me  happy  and  unmak'st ; 
And  gi^^ng  largely  to  me,  more  thou  tak'st! 
What  fate  is  mine,  that  so  itself  bereaves? 
What  art  is  thine,  that  so  thy  friend  deceives? 
When  even  there,  where  most  thou  praisest  me. 
For  writing  better,  I  must  envj'  thee."^^ 

Jonson's  remark  to  Drummond  "that  Francis  Beaumont 
loved  too  much  himself  and  his  own  verses"  is  not  at  all 
destructive  of  the  above  evidence  of  warm  friendship  and 
mutual  admiration. 

Pleasant  personal  relations  also  existed  between  Jonson 
and  Fletcher,  and  expressions  of  good-will  were  exchanged. 
Fletcher  wrote  verses  on  The  Fox  in  1607  and  on  Catiline 
in  1611,  Jonson  being  called  in  the  latter,  "dear  friend." 
Brome  says  that  Jonson  was  proud  to  call  Fletcher  "son" 
and 

"Swore  he  had  outdone 
His  very  self."  *• 

When  Fletcher's  Faithful  Shcphcrdcsft  failed  to  receive 
the  recognition  and  praise  it  deserved,  Jonson  wrote  some 
lines  of  warm  admiration,  prophesying  for  his  friend  that 
his  poem 

"shall  rise 

A  glorified  work  to  time,  when  fire 

Or  moths  shall  cat  what  all  these  fools  admire."  *^ 

Later,  he  told  Drummond  "that  next  himself,  only 
Fletcher  and  Chapman  could  make  a  mask."     Dyce  sug- 

<i  JoTifion,  TVorA-s,  III,  235. 

*-  neaiHiioiit  niul  B'lotcliPr,  IVorA's,  I,  92. 

♦•I  Jonson,   Works,  TIT,  201. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  39 

gests   that   Beaumont    and    Fletcher    were    perhaps    first 
brought  together  by  Jonson.** 

As  playwrights,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  learned  most 
from  Jonson  in  ideals  of  constructive  excellence.  In  man- 
agement of  detail  with  constant  reference  to  the  entire 
plot  and  regard  for  complete  unity  of  impression,  in  care- 
ful preparation  for  important  characters  before  their  en- 
trance, in  clever  invention  of  tricks  and  skillful  conduct  of 
intrigue,  they  show  that  they  were  his  quick  and  intelligent 
pupils.  Such  plays  as  The  Woman  Hater,  The  Scornful 
Lady,  Rule  a  Wife  and  Have  a  Wife,  The  Tamer  Tamed,  or 
The  Humorous  Lieutenant,  include  in  their  plots  tricks 
equal  in  wit  and  ingenuity  to  those  invented  b}"  Jonson 
and  probably  for  conception  and  management  in  part  due 
to  his  teaching.  In  The  Scornful  Lady,  it  is  of  interest  to 
note  the  knowledge  of  Plautus  and  Terence  shown  in  a 
quotation  from  the  former  and  a  situation  from  the  latter. 
The  Four  Triumphs  and  The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle 
have  inductions,  and  the  latter  has  also  a  running  comment 
in  dialogue  form  within  the  play.  Such  description  as 
that  which  prepares  us  for  the  entrance  of  Lazarillo  an(*' 
Lucio  in  The  Woman  Hater  is  frequently  found  in  Jonson. 
The  censor  and  satirical  commentator  on  personage  and  ac- 
tion  we  find  also  in  The  Woman  Hater — probably  WTitten 
by  Beaumont  and  showing  more  than  any  other  play  di- 
rect Jonsonian  influence. 

There  are  characters  of  humors  in  a  number  of  plays. 
In  The  Woman  Hater  Lazarillo,  ' ' the  hungry  courtier, ' '  is 
in  pursuit  of  a  fish 's  head  famed  as  most  rare  and  delicate ; 
Gondarino  is  almost  a  monomaniac  in  his  hatred  of  woman- 
kind; Lucio,  a  simple  lord,  is  possessed  with  the  idea  that 
he  has  great  powers  of  statesmanship ;  a  mercer  is  moved  by 
an  overwhelming  desire  to  ape  scholars.  The  Scornful 
Lady  portrays  the  humor  of  "the  scornful  lady"  as  an  at- 

4*  Beaiunont  and  Fletcher,  Works,  ed.  by  Alex.  Dyce,  I,  12. 


40  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

titude  of  scorn  toward  all  men;  that  of  her  waiting-wo- 
man, the  pursuit  of  young  lovers;  and  that  of  a  widow, 
the  acquisition  of  a  knight.  Merrj'thought  in  The  Knight 
of  the  Burning  Pestle  is  forever  merry  in  the  midst  of  all 
sorts  of  trials  and  perplexities;  Humphrey  is  an  ordinary 
simple  gull ;  and  Ralph,  who  of  course  owed  his  creation  to 
Don  Quixote,  has,  we  are  told,  the  "humor"  of  going  on 
adventures.  Bessus,*^  the  braggart  coward  in  A  King  and 
No  King,  may  have  been  suggested  in  part  by  Bobadil,  but 
certainly  lacks  the  individuality  and  personal  eccentricity 
that  make  that  personage  amusing  and  interesting  through- 
out. The  character  of  the  lawyer  in  The  Little  French 
Lawyer  is  conceived  in  Jonson's  spirit.  La  "Writ  ha\'ing 
been  forced  by  a  stranger  to  take  part  as  a  second  in  a  duel 
and  having  won  a  victory,  becomes  so  possessed  with  the 
love  of  fighting  that  he  deserts  his  business  and  sets  up  as 
a  regular  duelist,  being  cured  of  his  whimsical  humor  at 
length  by  means  of  a  trick  played  on  him.  The  person 
who  gives  title  to  The  Humorous  Lieutenant  passed 
rapidly  from  the  humor  for  fighting  Avlien  he  was  sick  to 
the  humor  of  cowardice  when  he  was  well.  Various  tricks 
are  devised  and  carried  through  to  purge  him  of  his  humor. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher  sometimes  give  names  to  indicate 
the  reigning  quality  of  character  as  "the  scornful  lady" 
and  Merrj'thought  or  Lady  Heartwell,  Lovegood  and  Hare- 
brain  in  Wit  Without  Money.  This  method  of  course  goes 
back  to  the  allegorical  element  in  the  miracle  plays  and 
moralities,  but  it  Avas  given  new  impetus  by  Jonson. 
There  is,  however,  a  marked  difference  in  the  treatment  of 
types  by  Jonson  and  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  "While 
he  seeks  to  emphasize  the  individuality  of  his  reiirosonta- 
tion  of  the  type,  they  dwell  almost  always  upon  the  class 
qualities. 

The  spirit  of  satire  and  the  definite  purpose  of  ridiculing 
<"  Kocppel  compares  Beasus  to   Fal.staff,  QuellcnStudicti,  4 1,  45. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  41 

folly  we  find  only  in  the  earlier  plays,  The  Woman  Hater, 
The  Scornful  Lady  and  The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle, 
all  ascribed  in  large  part  to  Beaumont.  In  the  first  of 
these  we  are  plainly  told  that  the  desire  is  to  see  the  wo- 
man hater  "purged"  and  a  "cure"  wrought  upon  him. 
The  description  of  court-life  and  of  theater-going  in  this 
same  play  contains  keen  and  effective  satire  of  contempo- 
rary conditions.*"  The  Scornful  Lady  shows  how  the 
scornful  lady  and  also  a  usurer  were  turned  from  their 
follies.  The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle  is  throughout 
a  satire  on  the  city  and  on  the  extravagances  of  the 
earlier  stage.  The  dialogue  between  the  citizen  and  his 
wife  has  all  Jonson's  vivid  realism. 

Koeppel  remarks  the  transformation  of  Leon  in  Rule  a 
Wife  and  Have  a  Wife  from  a  meek  silent  creature  before 
marriage  to  a  masterful  lord  immediately  afterAvard,  able 
to  talk  and  act  boldly,  as  similar  to  that  of  Epicoene  in  The 
Silent  WomanJ'  The  same  writer  notes  further  that  the 
astonishment  of  the  husband  over  the  sudden  independence 
and  self-assertion  of  his  newly  married  wife  in  The  Tamer 
Tamed  seems  a  reminiscence  of  the  perplexity  and  amaze- 
ment of  Morose.*^  He  does  not  caU  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  name  of  the  rich  old  man  in  this  same  play  who  is 
seeking  a  young  wife  is  Moroso.  Fletcher's  verse  is  es- 
sentially different  from  Jonson's,  but  Beaumont's,  as  has 
been  often  remarked,  shows  many  of  the  same  char- 
acteristics. Beaumont  adheres  strictly  to  the  metrical 
scheme  of  regular  decasyllabic  lines,  uses  largely  the  mas- 
culine internal  caesura,  has  free  dignified  phrasing  with 
many  run  on  lines.  In  his  blank  verse  Beaumont  certainly  y' 
followed  Jonson  as  master  and  teacher.  ' 

What  are  the  conclusions  as  to  the  influence  of  Jonson 

4«  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Worls,  T,  00;   The  Woman  jflater,  1,  3, 
47  Koeppel,  Quellen-Studicn,  11(3. 
islbid.,  90. 


42  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

on  Beaumont  and  Fletcher?  That  both  were  influenced 
to  a  consideraable  degree  in  dramatic  construction,  and  to 
a  limited  extent  in  conception  of  characters ;  that  Beaumont 
was  more  deeply  impressed  than  Fletcher,  really  began  his 
work  under  the  tutelage  of  Jonson,  caught  from  him  the 
spirit  of  dramatic  satire,  and  learned  much  in  the  art  of 
writing  blank  verse. 

There  is  no  direct  evidence  that  Massinger  knew  Jon- 
son or  was  personally  associated  with  him,  but  it  is  alto- 
gether likely,  from  Massinger 's  relation  of  friendship  and 
co-authorship  with  Fletcher  and  from  his  prominence 
among  the  London  playwrights  of  Jonson 's  later  life,  that 
he  was  sometimes  present  at  the  meetings  of  the  Apollo 
Club,  and  that  he  was  impressed  by  the  forceful  serious- 
ness of  Jonson 's  attitude  to  life  as  well  as  by  the  excellence 
of  his  art.  IMassinger  went  up  to  London  in  1G06  or  1607, 
and  although  we  have  no  mention  of  his  name  as  a  drama- 
tist until  1621,  we  know  that  during  this  interval  of  time 
he  was  writing  plays  and  learning  the  business  of  the 
stage.  That  in  some  matters  he  was  a  pupil  of  Jonson,  a 
study  of  his  plays  clearly  shows.  Like  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher,  he  was  by  no  means  a  plagiarist  or  imitator,  but 
he  understood  his  art  and  with  ready  ease  and  remarkable 
facility  could  learn  from  many  sources  and  adapt  what  he 
learned  to  the  making  of  plays  that  would  act. 

He  seems  to  have  been  affected  most  by  Jonson  in  con- 
struction and  moral  satire,  but  also  to  have  felt  his  influ- 
ence in  the  portrayal  of  contemporary  life  and  in  the  con- 
ception of  character.  Of  course  we  must  certainly  re- 
member that  Middleton's  influence  as  well  as  Jonson 's  was 
decidedly  at  work  in  picturing  contemp(H-ary  life,  drawing 
character,  portraying  manners,  and  it  is  impossible  to  de- 
termine absolutely  the  exact  limits  of  the  influence  of  each 
on  the  younger  dramatists.  The  plnys  that  relate  Mas* 
singer's  art  most  detinitcly  with  Jonson 's  are  The  City 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  43 

Madam  and  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts,  produced  ac- 
cording to  Fleay,  about  1619  and  1621,*^  and  ranking  high 
among  English  comedies  of  manners.  In  both  we  find 
great  ingenuity  and  skill  in  weaving  and  then  untangling 
the  intricacies  of  the  intrigues.  Each  single  incident,  each 
separate  trick,  is  made  to  take  its  place  in  preparing  with 
sureness  for  the  final  outcome.  Each  detail  of  description 
or  action  serves  its  part  in  unfolding  and  developing  the 
characters.  In  his  mastery  of  construction  and  sense  of 
artistic  logic,  Massinger  undoubtedly  received  valuable  in- 
struction from  Ben  Jonson. 

The  City  Madam  and  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts 
present  realistic  transcripts  from  contemporary  life  and 
aim  to  exhibit  and  satirize  the  follies  and  vanities  of  the 
day.  Massinger  here,  like  Jonson,  assumed  an  attitude 
of  censorship  toward  society.  In  his  wealth  of  observa- 
tion of  both  London  and  provincial  life,  and  in  his  keen  and 
telling  satire  of  social  abuses,  he  fell  not  greatly  below  his 
master.     He  would 

' '  scourge  a  general  vice. 
And  raise  up  a  new  satirist. ' '  ^" 

Not  only  in  general  didactic  tone,  but  also  in  direct  moral 
utterances,  generalizations,  maxims  and  proverbs,  he  proves 
himself  always  a  strict  and  conscientious  moralist  and 
never  makes  us  feel,  as  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  sometimes 
do,  that  all  moral  principles  are  in  a  state  of  uncertain 
solution. 

]\Iassinger  follows  the  example  set  by  both  Jonson  and 
I\Iiddleton  of  giving  names  descriptive  of  their  owners,  in 
The  City  Madam  and  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts.  In  the 
former,  we  have  Sir  John  Frugal,  the  economical  merchant; 
Mr.  Plenty,  the  wealthy  country  gentleman;  Stargaze,  the 

48  Fleay,  Chronicle,  I,  214,  225. 

«o  Massinger,  Best  Plays,  1,  475 ;  The  City  Madam,  IV,  4. 


44  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  CO:\IEDY 

astrologer;  Holdfast,  the  penurious  steward;  Goldwire  and 
Tradewell,  the  middle  class  tradesmen.  The  same  method 
is  used  in  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts  with  Justice 
Greedy,  w^hose  one  aim  in  life  is  to  satisfy  his  passion  for 
eating;  Marrall,  who,  we  are  told,  "marred  all";  Sir 
Giles  Overreach,  whose  previous  career  has  been  one  of 
unbroken  success  in  overreaching;  Furnace,  the  cook; 
"VVatchall,  the  porter ;  "Wellborn,  a  young  man  of  good  birth 
(a  name  used  by  Jonson  in  Bartholomew  Fair)  ;  Amble,  the 
usher  (Ambler  is  the  usher  in  The  Devil  Is  ati  Ass)  ;  and 
Order,  the  steward.  The  characters  are  built  up  on  the 
basis  of  one  predominant  quality,  and  like  Jonson 's  comic 
types  are  subject  to  the  faults  of  exaggeration  and  carica- 
ture. However,  there  is  a  difference  of  treatment  in  that 
IMassinger  dwells  ^vith  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  upon  the 
common  characteristics  of  the  type,  instead  of  seeking  with 
Jonson  the  subtle  individual  quality  of  the  particular  rep- 
resentative of  the  type.  A  comparison  of  the  two  gluttons. 
Justice  Greedy  and  Zeal-of-the-land  Busy,  makes  manifest 
this  difference. 

Jamas  Shirley,  although  born  in  the  last  years  of  the  six- 
teenth centurj"  and  considerably  younger  than  the  preced- 
ing dramatists,  yet  belongs  in  the  .same  group  on  account 
of  his  personal  connections  and  the  character  of  his  work. 
He  collaborated  with  Chapman  and  Fletcher  in  writing 
plays  during  the  latter  parts  of  their  careoi-s,  iiroparod  the 
prefatory  matter  for  the  Beaumont  ami  Floti-hor  folio, 
worked  side  by  side  with  ]\Iassinger  in  developing  the  later 
comedy  of  manners  based  on  the  combined  methods  of  Jon- 
son and  ]\Iiddloton,  and  was  addressed  as  "judicious  and 
learned  friend"  by  i\Ias.singer  wlio  also  calli'd  himself  "a 
modest  votary  at  the  altar  of  thy  muse."  In  Shirley's 
plays,  as  in  Beaumont's  and  Fletcher's  ami  Massinger's, 
the  romantic  element  is  in  the  ascendaney,  hut  in  the  eclec- 
ticism of  all   these  playwriirlits  there  \v;is  a   place   for  the 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  45 

comedy  of  manners  and  of  humors.  Shirley,  like  Mas- 
singer,  was  a  pupil  of  both  Jonson  and  Middleton  in  com- 
edy of  manners.  Here  we  are  especially  concerned  with 
evidences  of  Jonson 's  influence. 

Shirley,  too,  must  have  known  and  enjoyed  part  in  the 
gatherings  at  the  Devil  Tavern.  In  one  of  his  plays  a 
servant  is  told  to  "run  to  the  Devil"  for  wine.°^  As  a 
young  student  of  playwriting,  he  must  have  been  impressed 
by  the  originality  and  force  of  Jonson 's  work,  and  in  his 
own  first  attempt,  Love  Tricks,  shows  unmistakably  who 
was  one  of  his  teachers.  In  the  dedication  of  The  Grate- 
ful Servant,  he  speaks  with  honor  and  admiration  of  "our 
acknowledged  master,  learned  Jonson."  William  Habing- 
ton,  in  commendatory  verses  to  Shirley,  associates  his  name 
with  Jonson 's: 

"and  when  his  muse  expires. 
Whose  English  stains  the  Greek  and  Latin  lyres, 
Divinest  Jonson,  live  to  make  us  see 
The  glory  of  the  stage  reviv'd  in  thee." 

In  the  writing  of  masques  as  well  as  comedies  of  man- 
ners Shirley  was  influenced,  and  in  court  entertainments 
succeeded  largely  to  Jonson 's  popularity  and  success,  pro- 
ducing Tli^  Triumph  of  Peace,  one  of  the  greatest  masques 
of  the  time.  In  this,  the  antimasque  especially  recalls  Jon- 
son, in  the  presentation  of  six  projectors,  such  as  he  so  ef- 
fectively satirized  in  Tlie  Devil  Is  an  Ass,  and  of  the  dot- 
terels whose  foolish  bent  for  imitation  appealed  to  him  and 
gave  name  to  the  gulled  Fitzdotterel  in  the  same  play. 
The  talk  of  the  citizens  in  The  Triumph  of  Peace  resembles 
that  in  The  Masque  of  Augurs  or  Neptune's  Triumph. 

Such  influence  as  we  find  in  this  masque,  in  character 
that  of  reminiscence  and  general  recollection,  is  exerted 
also  in  the  comedies.     Shirley  is  a  happy  and  original  com- 

51  Shirley,  Works,  ed.  by  Alex.  Dyce,  I,  383,  The  Wedding,  II,  1. 


46  JOXSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

binatiou  of  what  had  gone  before  him  and  he  certainly 
learned  somewhat  from  Jonson.  In  originalit}'  and  variety 
of  plots  Shirley  excelled,  and  here  he  followed  the  example 
of  Jonson  in  turning  from  the  use  of  old  plays  and  novels 
to  invent  new  situations.  Further,  his  plots  are  closely 
knit,  unified,  and  in  regard  for  constructive  detail,  directly 
or  indirectly  he  had  benefited  by  Jonson 's  work. 

The  pictures  of  London  life  given  in  such  plays  as  Love 
Tncks,  Hyde  Park,  The  Lady  of  Pleasure,  The  Ball,  The 
Gamester,  The  Example,  The  Witty  Fair  One  or  The 
Wedding,  are  more  attractively  realistic  than  those  we  get 
from  Middleton's  plays.  They  show  a  deeper  insight  into 
the  human  significance  of  a  conversation,  situation  and  ac- 
tion, a  more  thoughtful  and  understanding  grasp  of  under- 
lying meaning.  Much  of  the  difference  is  due  to  Shirley's 
own  temperament,  but  perhaps  in  some  part  also  to  Jon- 
son's  attitude.  Shirley  yields  neither  to  the  absolute  re- 
alism of  Middleton  nor  the  didactic  satire  of  Jonson,  but 
learning  from  both,  gives  pictures  in  some  ways  truer  than 
those  we  get  from  either  of  the  others.  There  is  in  Shir- 
ley a  moral  sanity  and  ethical  sense  that  we  oftentimes  find 
lacking  in  ^liddleton,  and  while  here  again  we  must  ascribe 
much  to  Shirley's  own  well-balanced  nature,  yet  perhaps 
some  influence  was  exerted  also  by  Jonson 's  strong  ethical 
bent. 

Several  prologues  are  written  in  a  Jonsouian  tone  of  in- 
dependence and  even  arrogance  toward  the  public.  Com- 
pare this  from  the  prologue  to  The  Example: 

"Nay,  he  that  in  the  parish  never  was  ' 

Thought  fit  to  be  o'  the  jury,  has  a  place 
Here,  on  the  bench,  for  sixpence;  and  dares  sit, 
And  boast  himself  commissioner  of  wit : 
"Which  though  lie  want,  he  can  condenm  with  oaths, 
As  much  as  they  that  wear  the  purple  clothes, 


BIMEDIATE  CONTEMPORAEIES  47 

Robes,  I  should  say,  on  whom,  i'  the  Roman  state, 
Some  ill-look 'd  stage-keepers,  like  lictors  wait, 
"With  pipes  for  fasces,  while  another  bears 
Three-footed  stools  instead  of  ivory  chairs, ' ' " 

with  this  from  the  prologue  to  The  Staple  of  News: 

(the  maker)   "prays  you'll  not  prejudge  his  play  for  ill, 

Because  you  mark  it  not,  and  sit  not  still ; 

But  have  a  longing  to  salute,  or  talk 

AVith  such  a  female,  and  from  her  to  walk 

With  your  discourse,  to  what  is  done,  and  where. 

How,  and  by  whom,  in  all  the  town  but  here. 

If  that  not  like  you  that  he  send  to-night, 
'Tis  you  have  left  to  judge,  not  he  to  write."  " 

Again,  in  the  prologue  to  The  Duke's  Mistress,  we  meet 
with  just  such  an  utterance  as  we  have  become  familiar 
with  in  Jonson: 

"We  do  observe  the  general  guests  to  plays  '/ 

Meet  in  opinion  of  two  strains  that  please, 
Satire  and  wantonness;  the  last  of  these. 
Though  old,  if  in  new  dressing  it  appear. 
Will  move  a  smile  from  all, — but  shall  not  here. 
Our  author  hath  no  guilt  of  scurril  scenes. 
For  satire,  they  do  know  best  what  it  means, 
That  dare  apply;  and  if  a  poet's  pen 
Aiming  at  general  errors,  note  the  men, 
'Tis  not  his  fault :  the  safest  cure  is,  they 
That  purge  their  bosoms,  may  see  any  play. ' '  ^* 

Several  plays  have  situations  or  devices  that  recall  Jon- 

62  Shirley,  Works,  III,  282. 

63  Jonson,  Works,  II,  277. 
6*  Shirley,  Works,  IV,  191. 


48  JONSOX  AND  FA'GLISII  CO.MEDY 

son.  lu  Love  Tricks,  the  mock  duel,  described  so  boast- 
fully bj^  Bubuleus,  has  a  marked  resemblance  to  the  ac- 
count given  b}'  Fastidious  Brisk  of  his  supposed  victorj'  in 
Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor.-'-'  The  passage  from  Loi'c 
Tricks  is  Avorth  quoting,  so  much  is  it  in  Jonson's  manner: 

"Buhulcus.  We  threw  our  doublets  off,  to  shew  we  had  no 
coat  of  mail,  or  privy  shirt  upon  us,  against  the  laws 
of  dueling:  in  fine,  I  bid  him  say  his  prayers. 

Antonio.   'Twas  well  thought  upon ;  and  what  did  you  ? 

Buh.  I  let  them  alone,  for  I  knew  I  should  kill  him,  and 
have  time  enough  to  say  them  afterwards  at  my  lei- 
sure. 

Hilaria.  "When  he  had  prayed,  what  then  ? 

Bub.  When  he  had  said  his  prayers,  he  thought  upon  it, 
and  let  fall  words  tending  to  reconcilement.  On  my 
conscience,  he  would  have  a.sked  my  forgiveness,  but  I 
stood  upon  my  honor,  and  would  fight  with  him,  and 
so  we  stood  upon  our  guard — but  not  a  word  of  fight- 
ing, if  you  love  me. 

Ant.  Oh,  by  no  means:  but  when  did  you  fight? 

Bub.  I'll  tell  you;  Antonio,  when  he  saw  no  remedy,  but 
that  I  would  needs  fight  with  him,  and  so  conseciuently 
kill  him,  made  a  desperate  blow  at  my  head,  which  I 
warded  with  my  dagger,  better  than  he  looked  for,  and 
in  return,  I  cut  off  liis  left  hand;  whereat  amazed,  and 
fainting,  I  nimbly  seconded  it,  as  you  know  1  am  very 
nimble,  and  run  my  rapier  into  his  i-iglit  tliigh,  two 
yards. 

Hil.  Then  you  were  on  both  sides  of  him? 

Ant.  Your  rapier?  Did  you  not  say  youi*  weapons  were 
long  swords  ? 

Biib.  But  mine  was  botli  a  sword  and  rapier,  there  'tis — 

f'-' Sclit'lliii",',   Elizahethdii    DnDixi,    II,   '2H7.     ('iiiii|(iin'   witli   .loiisoii. 
HovA-.v,   I,    11!)  120,  /•;/•( /.(/   .l/<i/(   Out  of  His  Hum,,,:   W.  4. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORARIES  49 

but  not  a  word  of  fighting,  as  you  love  me.  AVell,  not 
to  weary  you  with  the  narration  of  the  innumerable 
wounds  I  gave  him,  I  cut  off  every  joint  from  his  toe 
upwards,  to  his  middle;  by  these  hilts,  now,  you  may 
believe  me;  there  ended  Antonio,  my  rival.  Judge, 
judge  now,  whether  Bubuleus  be  valiant  or  not — but 
not  a  Avord  of  fighting,  as  you  love  me ;  let  it  die. 
Ant.   'Twas  very  valiantly  done."^*' 

The  School  of  Compliment  in  this  same  play  brings 
together  a  group  of  humorous  characters  such  as  Jonson 
assembled  in  the  Ladies  Collegiate  of  The  Silent  Woman, 
the  news-collecting  agency  of  Tlie  Staple  of  Xeivs,  or  the 
school  of  cosmetics  and  behavior  in  The  Devil  is  an  Ass. 
The  situation  of  the  old  man  Rufuldo  married  to  a  man 
disguised  as  a  woman,  and,  finding  himself  tied  to  a  mas- 
terful shrew,  in  the  end  thoroughly  glad  to  be  freed  from 
his  burden,  may  perhaps  be  a  reminiscence  of  The  Silent 
Woman.  The  likeness  of  the  passage  in  The  Young  Ad- 
miral where  the  foolish  Pazzarello  is  introduced  to  the 
supposed  enchantress  Avho  is  to  make  him  in^ailnerable 
in  battle,  to  that  in  The  Alchemist  where  Dapper  is  taken 
into  the  presence  of  the  "fairy"  whose  favorite  he  has 
been  assured  he  is,  has  been  noticed  by  Gifford." 

When  we  turn  to  characters,  we  find  a  number  created 
on  the  basis  of  humors  or  seemingly  reminiscences  of  Jon- 
son. In  Love  Tricks,  Bubuleus,  an  "exact  piece  of  stolid- 
ity" comes  to  the  school  of  compliment  to  "have  a  delicate 
speech"  for  his  lady-love,  and  "a  powdering  speech"  for 
his  rival,  whom  he  would  kill  without  danger  of  the  law, 
and  so  with  words.  He  gives  boastful  account  of  his 
prowess  in  dueling  and  like  Shift  Avith  his  thefts  in  Every 
Man  out  of  His  Humor  later  confesses  to  base  cowardice 

5C  Shirley,  Works,  I,  74-75 ;  Love  Tricks,  IV,  6. 
'"- Ihid.,  Ill,  145;   The  Young  Admiral,  IV,  1. 


50  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

and  lying  ^^ith  "thinking  to  have  got  himself  some  credit," 
as  Shift  "to  get"  himself  "a  name."  Orlando  Furioso, 
who  comes  to  learn  to  ' '  roar ' '  and  quarrel,  recalls  Kastrill, 
the  angry  boy  in  The  Alchemist.  Shirley  makes  many  ref- 
erences to  the  roarere  of  the  time,  satirized  by  Jonson  not 
only  in  The  Alchemist  but  also  in  The  Silent  Woman  as  the 
"terrible  boys"  and  in  The  Staple  of  News  as  the  "can- 
ters." Sir  Valentine  Wantbrain,  who  has  been  newly  put 
into  commission  for  the  peace  and  comes  to  the  School  of 
Compliment  to  have  drawn  up  his  first  charge  to  the  jurj' ; 
the  countryman  who  brings  his  son  Oaf  to  be  made  a 
scholar  and  a  courtier;  and  Ingeniolo,  the  justice's  clerk, 
who  wishes  to  be  taught  to  speak  his  passion  of  love  in 
blank  verse — these  are  "humorous"  conceptions,  though 
slightly  developed. 

Brains  in  TJie  Wedding,  whose  pride  it  is  that  he  has 
never  been  overreached  in  any  action,  whose  ' '  nourishment 
runs  upward  into  brains"  and  who  boasts  that  he  "was 
never  yet  cozened,"  seems  to  be  a  reminiscence  of  Brain- 
worm.  Sir  Solitary  Plot  in  The  Example,  pointed  out  by 
Dyee  as  an  imitation  of  Jonson,"^^  believes  "the  world  is 
full  of  plots"  and  spends  most  of  his  time  in  solitude, 
planning  methods  of  precaution.  The  suggestion  for  Jack 
Freshwater  in  The  Ball,  Gifford  thinks  was  furnished  by 
Puntai-volo  in  Every  Man  out  of  His  Tlumor.^^  The  like- 
ness between  Freshwater 's  account  of  marvelous  experi- 
ences on  his  supposed  return  from  travel  and  Puntarvolo's 
fantastic  preparations  for  a  journey  is  certainly  not  very 
evident;  but  the  conception  of  the  character  probably  de- 
veloped in  Shirley's  mind  under  the  inlluonce  of  Jonson 's 
personages.  Pazzarello  in  The  Young  Admiral,  who,  duped 
to  believe  that  he  has  been  made  invulnerable,  wjixes  ex- 


es Shirley,  Works,  I,  Introduction,  XXX. 
60  Ibid.,  Ill,  3. 


IMMEDIATE  CONTEMPORAEIES  51 

ceedingly  valiant;  Caperwit,  the  poetaster  in  Love  in  a 
Maze,  and  Sir  Gervase  Simple  of  the  same  play — 

"one  that  has 
But  newly  cast  his  country  skin,  come  up 
To  see  the  fashions  of  the  town,  has  crept 
Into  a  knighthood,  which  he  paid  for  heartily 
And  in  his  best  clothes,  is  suspected  for 
A  gentleman ; "  ^^ 

and  Orseolo,  w^lio  gives  name  to  The  Humorous  Courtier 
and  whose  humor  is  to  rail  against  women, — all  are  con- 
ceived in  Jonson's  manner.  The  influence  of  Jonson  is 
manifested  in  the  fundamental  idea  of  a  prevailing  humor 
or  bias  much  more  than  in  the  method  of  development. 
Shirley  does  not,  as  Jonson,  take  the  trouble  to  present 
the  humor  under  many  different  aspects  and  in  many  re- 
lations so  as  to  produce  a  many-sided  study. 

Here,  as  with  the  other  dramatists  of  the  group  studied, 
it  is  impossible  to  state  definitely  the  exact  limits  of  Jon- 
son's influence.  Shirley's  first  play  was  plainly  modeled 
in  plot,  characters,  satirical  pictures  of  contemporary  life 
and  vocabulary  on  Jonson's  comedy.  In  later  plays,  care- 
ful logical  construction  manifests  a  permanent  effect  of 
the  teaching  Shirley  had  had.  Now  and  then  appears  a 
character  conceived  according  to  the  theory  of  humors. 
Several  prologues  are  Jonsonian  in  tone.  An  occasional 
situation,  device  or  expression,  seems  reminiscent  of  Jon- 
son's plays.  Shirley  was  no  imitator,  no  slavish  follower, 
but  an  original  and  inventive  plaj^-right  who  could  take 
lessons  from  a  master  and  then  apply  them  with  independ- 
ence and  power. 

«o  Shirley,  Worhs,  II,  277;   Lov*  in  a  Maze,  I,  1. 


CHAPTER  III 

NATHANIEL   FIELD   AND   RICHARD   BROME   IN   RELATION   TO 
JONSON 

"VVe  turn  now  to  the  younger  dramatists  who  were  dis- 
tinctively "Sons  of  Ben,"  who  consciously  and  definitely 
took  the  attitude  of  disciples  toward  the  master  of  the 
comedy  of  humors,  fully  acknowledged  his  authority  and 
sought  to  follow  closely  in  the  paths  marked  out  by  him. 
In  this  group  we  shall  study  the  comedies  of  Nathaniel 
Field,  Richard  Brome,  Thomas  ^lay,  Robert  Davenport, 
Thomas  Randolph,  Shakerley  Marmion,  AVilliam  Cart- 
wright,  Jasper  Mayne,  Henry  Glapthorne,  Thomas  Xabbes, 
Sir  Aston  Cockayne,  AVilliam  Cavendish,  Earl  of  New- 
castle, and  Sir  William  Davenant.  First  of  all.  we  shall 
consider  Field  and  Brome,  to  whom  Jonson  stood  in  the  di- 
rect relation  of  teacher  to  pupils.  These  had  especially 
close  personal  associations  with  him  and  gained  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  ])ersonally  instructed  l)y  liim  in  the  art 
of  making  plays,  of  learning  their  craft  under  his  immedi- 
ate supervision. 

Nathaniel  Field  was  an  "actor  playwright"  and  began 
his  connection  with  the  stage  as  a  member  of  one  of  the 
boy  companies  prominent  about  1600,  the  Childi*en  of  the 
Ciuipel,  known  in  the  reign  of  King  James  as  the  Queen's 
Revels.  lie  was  chief  actor  in  three  of  Jonson 's  plays 
acted  at  Blackfriars  by  the  Chapel  Children:  Cynthia's 
Bevels  in  IGOO,  Poetaster  in  3601.  Kpicmie  in  1G09. 
Again,  in  1G14  he  was  chief  actor  in  Bartholumew  Fair 
produced  at  the  Hope  by  the  Lady  Elizabeth's  Men.'  It 
is  in  the  last  play  that  Jonson  pays  liim  the  high  compli- 

1  Fleay,  Ihirj.  Stud..  XIII,  18S0. 

i2 


FIELD  AND  BROME  53 

ment  of  associating  his  name  with  that  of  Burbage,  and 
praises  him  as  the  best  actor  in  his  company: 

"Cokes.    Which  is  your  Burbage  now? 
Leatherhead.     "What  mean  you  by  that,  sir? 
Cokes.     Your  best  actor,  your  Field  ? "  ^ 

"We  can  imagine  that  an  additional  appeal  was  made  to 
Jonson's  sympathies  by  the  fact  that  Field  was  one  of  the 
boys  kidnaped  by  Nathaniel  Giles,  ]\Iaster  of  her  IMaj- 
esty's  Chapel,  in  abuse  of  his  privilege  of  taking  young 
boys  to  sing  in  the  royal  chapels,  and  pressed  into  enforced 
service  as  an  actor  in  the  company  of  which  Giles  had  the 
management,  the  Children  of  the  Chapel."  When  carried 
off,  Field  was  a  pupil  at  Westminster  School,  and  only 
thirteen  years  old  at  the  time  he  took  the  chief  part  in 
Cynthia's  Revels.*  Evidently  Jonson  pitied  the  boy  so 
early  snatched  away  from  his  books,  and  gave  him  lessons ; 
for  we  learn  from  the  Conversations  that  ''Nat.  Field  was 
his  scholar,  and  that  he  had  read  to  him  the  Satires  of 
Horace  and  some  Epigrams  of  Martial. ' '  ^  Field  quotes 
Latin  in  the  address  to  the  reader  before  A  Woman  is  a 
Weathercock,  and  in  the  dedication  points  out  the  fact 
that  he  ends  his  epistle  without  a  Latin  sentence,  as  if 
priding  himself  that  he  could  do  so  if  he  wished.®  During 
the  hours  of  studj-  and  of  rehearsal,  he  had  abundant  op- 
portunity to  learn  the  playwright's  craft  from  Jonson  him- 
self. The  admiration  Field  felt  for  his  teacher  is  directly 
expressed  in  the  verses  he  wrote  in  1611  to  his  "worthy 
and  beloved  friend.  Master  Ben  Jonson,  on  his  Catiline." 

But  two  of  Field's  comedies  survive,  A   Woynan   is  a 

2  Jonson,  Wo7-J:s,  II,   199;   Bariholomeic  Fair,  V,  3. 

3  Schelling,  Elizahethan  Drama,  I,  472-473. 

4  Knight,  Article  in  D.  N.  B.  XVIII,  1S80. 

5  Jonson,  Works,  III,  477. 

6  Nero  and  Other  Plays,  Mermaid  Series,  338-339. 


54  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Weathercock,  and  Amends  for  Ladies.  TVe  know  that  he 
did  considerable  work  of  revision  and  collaboration,  but 
that  need  not  concern  us  here.  The  above  comedies  do 
credit  to  the  instruction  that  Field  had  received,  show 
practical  knowledge  of  the  requirements  of  the  stage  and 
intelligent  grasp  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  Jonsonian 
comedy.  The  satirical  tone  adopted  reveals  at  once  the 
source  whence  Field  obtained  his  attitude  in  viewing  life. 
His  first  play,  A  Woynayi  is  a  Weathcrcocli,  is  a  satire  on 
the  inconstancy  of  women,  and  is  dedicated  "to  any  wo- 
man that  hath  been  no  weathercock. ' '  In  this  play  the  in- 
discriminate creation  of  knights  by  James  I  is  ridiculed: 

' '  Count  Frederick.  Young  IMaster  Abraham !  Cry  ye 
mercy,  sir. 

Ahraham  Ninny.  Your  lordship's  poor  friend  and  Sir 
Abraham  Ninny. 

The  dub-a-dub  of  honor,  piping  hot. 

Doth  lie  upon  my  worship's  shoulder-blade. 

Sir  Innocent  Ninny.  Indeed,  my  lord,  with  much  cost 
and  labor  we  have  got  him  knighted ;  and  being  under 
favor,  my  lord,  let  me  tell  ye  he'll  prove  a  sore  knight, 
as  e'er  run  at  ring.  He  is  the  one  and  only  Ninny 
of  our  house. ' '  ^ 

Again,  the  prevailing  injustice  in  matters  of  law  is  bitterly 
satirized : 

"it  will  be  thought 

Your  greatness  and  our  money  carries  it: 

For  some  say  some  men  on  the  back  of  law 

May  ride  and  rule  it  like  a  patient  ass, 

And  with  a  golden  bridle  in  the  mouth 

Direct  it  unto  anything  they  please. 

Others  report  it  is  a  spider's  web, 

^ladc  to  entangle  the  poor  helpless  flies, 
1  Nero  and  Other  Plays,  352;   A   Woman   is  a  Weathercock,  I,  2. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  55 

Whilst  the  great  spiders  that  did  make  it  first, 
And  rule  it,  sit  i'  th'  midst  secure  and  laugh,"  • 

"He  has  the  advantage  of  you,  being  a  lord; 
For  should  you  kill  him,  you  are  sure  to  die. 
And  by  some  lawyer  wdth  a  golden  tongue. 
That  cries  for  right  (ten  angels  on  his  side), 
Your  daring  meet  him  called  presumption : 
But  kill  he  you,  he  and  his  noble  friends 
Have  such  a  golden  snaffle  for  the  jaws 
Of  man-devouring  Pythagorean  law, 
They  '11  reign  her  stubborn  chops  even  to  her  tail : 
And  (though  she  have  iron  teeth  to  meaner  men), 
So  master  her,  that,  who  displeased  her  most, 
She  shall  lie  under  like  a  tired  jade."^ 

Both  A  Woman  is  a  Weathercock  and  Amends  for  Ladies 
present  vivid  and  realistic  pictures  of  contemporary  life. 
The  scene  of  the  former  is  laid  in  the  neighborhood  of 
London  and  of  the  latter  within  the  city.  Both  are  full 
of  local  allusions  to  such  places  as  the  theater  at  Newing- 
ton  Butts,  the  Fortune  theater  in  Cripplegate,  the  cooks' 
shops  of  Pie  corner  in  Smithfield,  the  ducking-ponds  at 
Islington,  ]\Ioorfields — a  noted  resort  of  outcasts.  Turn- 
mill  Street — a  haunt  of  thieves,  or  Bear  Tavern  below  Lon- 
don Bridge.  Thus  Field  produces  the  effect  of  actuality 
that  Jonson  obtains  by  similar  means  in  The  Alchemist  or 
Bartholomew  Fair.  Effective  and  realistic,  if  coarse,  pre- 
sentation of  eveiy-day  London  life  we  get  in  such  a  scene  as 
that  inside  a  tavern,  in  Amends  for  Ladies,  where  Lord 
Feesimple  is  introduced  among  a  group  of  ' '  roaring  boys, ' ' 
and  by  way  of  drinking  a  large  number  of  healths  is  tem- 
porarily inspired  with  the  courage  of  a  roarer.^" 

8  yero  and  Other  Plays,  369;  A  Woman  is  a  Weathercock,  II,  1. 

9  A'ero  and  Other  Plays,  472 ;  Amends  for  Ladies,  IV,  3. 
^0  Hid.,  456-460;   Amends  for  Ladies,  III,  4. 


56  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

A  number  of  the  characters  are  conceived  and  executed 
on  the  basis  of  humors,  and  given  names  to  indicate  the 
ruling  qualit}'.  In  A  Woman  is  a  Weathercock  we  have 
Pendant,  a  sycophant  "who  lives  "upon  commending" 
Count  Frederick,  and  whom  men  call  his  lord's  "commen- 
dations"; Sir  John  AVorldly,  whose  one  great  desire  is  for 
money  and  who  assures  us  " "Worldly  s  my  name,  worldly 
must  be  my  deeds";  Pouts,  the  irascible  and  \indictive 
captain ;  and  above  all,  the  Xinnies,  Sir  Innocent  Ninny, 
Lady  Ninny  and  Sir  Abraham  Ninny.  Count  Frederick 
asks:  "What  countrymen  were  your  ancestors,  Sir  Abra- 
ham?" and  that  brainless  youth  replies:  "Countrymen! 
they  were  no  countrj-men :  I  scorn  it.  Thej'  were  gentle- 
men all :  my  father  is  a  Ninny  and  my  mother  was  a  Ham- 
mer."'^ Like  Jonson's  ]\Iatthew,  Sir  Abraham  prides 
himself  on  his  verses  of  passionate  love,  but  to  unpreju- 
diced critics  he  is  "like  a  hard-bound  poet  whose  brains 
had  a  frost  in  'em."  Amends  for  Ladies  gives  us  AVell- 
tried,  the  trusty  friend;  Bold,  of  unlimited  daring;  Lord 
Proudly,  Sir  John  Loveall,  Subtle,  Ingen,  Ladies  Honor, 
Perfect,  and  Bright,  all  sufficiently  described  by  their 
names;  the  group  of  roarers,  such  as  Tearchaps  and  Spill- 
blood;  and  the  chief  humorous  character,  Lord  Feesimple, 
whose  humor  is  that  he  grows  faint  at  sight  of  a  naked 
sword,  and  who  longs,  like  Jonson's  Kastrill.  to  be  tauglit 
to  quarrel  and  become  a  roarer. 

Again,  in  the  ready  invention  and  admirable  execution 
of  his  plots.  Field  proves  that  he  possessed  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  stage  and  that  he  made  good  use  of  Jon- 
son's precept  and  example  in  the  way  of  careful  const  mic- 
tion. At  the  clase  of  A  Woman  is  a  WraflicrcocK-  he  takes 
pains  to  inform  us  that  the  action  of  the  play  is  included 
within  twelve  hours: 
"X^e'er   was   so   much    (what    cannot   heavenly    powers?) 

Done  and  undone  and  done  in  twelve  short  hours." 

1'  .\<io  ami  Oilier  J'hiijs,  ooH;   A   Wuniaii  is  a   Weathercock,  1,  2. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  57 

He  was  a  skillful  playwright,  and  while  the  intrigue  of  the 
two  comedies  is  intricate  and  complicated,  it  is  effectively 
conducted  and  untangled.  The  tricks  in  A  Woma^i  is  a 
Weathercock  by  which  Sir  Abraham  Ninny  is  gulled  into 
marrying  Mistress  "Wagtail  (the  waiting- woman).  Captain 
Pouts  is  punished  by  Master  Strange  for  slandering  his 
wife,  and  Bellafront  is  kept  by  Nevill  from  a  valid  mar- 
riage with  Count  Frederick  and  so  saved  for  his  friend,  are 
clever  and  interesting.  That  a  masque  is  used  as  an  or- 
ganic part  of  the  plot  of  A  Woman  is  a  Weathercock  is 
probably  another  evidence  of  Jonson's  influence.  Though 
both  comedies  were  written  about  the  same  time  and  there 
seems  no  manifest  reason  for  the  difference,  it  is  of  interest 
to  note  that  the  Amends  for  Ladies  has  four  or  five  times 
as  many  of  the  words  we  found  constantly  reappearing  in 
Jonson's  comedy  as  occur  in  the  earlier  play. 

This  study  of  Field's  two  extant  comedies  shows  unmis- 
takable traces  of  Jonson's  influence  in  satirical  attitude, 
realistic  pictures  of  London  life,  construction  of  plots,  and 
humorous  characters. 

Among  the  "Sons  of  Ben,"  Richard  Brome  must  be 
given  precedence  as  having  had  the  best  opportunity  to 
gain  accurate  knowledge  of  Jonson's  methods  and  spirit 
in  writing  comedy,  and  as  having  produced  the  largest 
number  of  plays  possessing  the  fundamental  characteristics 
of  the  comedy  of  humors.  The  first  reference  to  Brome 
that  we  find  is  in  the  induction  to  Bartholomew  Fair  where 
the  stagekeeper  says :  ' '  I  am  looking  lest  the  poet  hear  me, 
or  his  man,  Master  Brome,  behind  the  arras  ";^^  so  that  at 
least  from  1614,  when  this  play  was  written,  he  was  serv- 
ant to  Ben  Jonson.  As  far  as  we  know,  he  so  remained 
until  the  master's  death  in  1637.  When  The  Northern 
Lass  was  published  in  1632,  Jonson  stood  as  sponsor  for 
it  and  wTOte  commendatory  verses  "to  my  old  faithful 
servant,  and  (by  his  continued  virtue)  my  loving  friend, 

12  Jonson,  Worls,  IT,  143. 


58  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Mr.  Richard  Brome. "  Not  only  as  a  servant  and  friend 
does  Jonson  praise  him,  but  also  as  a  follower  of  the  comic 
laws  he  himself  had  taught : 

"I  had  you  for  a  servant  once,  Dick  Brome, 
And  you  performed  a  servant 's  faithful  parts ; 
Now  you  are  got  into  a  nearer  room 
Of  fellowship,  professing  my  old  arts. 
And  you  do  them  well,  with  good  applause, 
"Which  you  have  justly  gained  from  the  stage, 
By  observation  of  those  comic  laws 
AVhich  I,  your  master,  first  did  teach  the  age. 
You  learned  it  well,  and  for  it  served  your  time, 
A  prenticeship,  which  few  do  nowadays."^' 

That  Brome  had  the  advantage  of  daily  association  with 
Jonson  during  years  is  a  fact  of  great  significance  and 
he  must  have  learned  much  and  gained  much.  It  was  also 
in  collaboration  with  Jonson 's  son  that  he  began  his  dra- 
matic career  with  a  non-extant  play,  A  Fault  in  Friend- 
ship, licensed  in  1623  as  "by  Brome  and  young 
Jonson." 

Brome  himself  refers  Mith  pride  to  Jonson  as  his  teaclier 
and  master.  In  verses  prefixed  to  the  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher  folio  of  1647,  he  writes  of  him 

"That  was  the  master  of  his  art  and  me, 
]\Iost  knowing  Jonson."^'' 

The  prologue  to  The  City  Wit  tells  us  the  play 

"was  written,  wlien 
It  bore  just  judgment,  and  the  seal  of  Ben."  '° 

In  the  epilogue  to  The  (Ururt  Beggar,  the  author  seems  to 

18  Brome,  ^Vurl^:s,  111,  p.  IX. 

J*  Boaumont  niid  Fk'tcher,  ^\\)lks,  1,  02. 

10  Brome,   Works,  I,  276. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  59 

refer  to  Jonson  in  writing  of  him  "by  Avliose  care  and  di- 
rections this  stage  is  governed,  who  has  for  many  years 
.  .  .  directed  poets  to  -write  and  players  to  speak  till 
he  trained  up  these  youths  here  to  what  they  are  now. ' '  ^® 
]\Iany  a  time  Brome  must  have  gone  with  Jonson  to  the 
Devil  Tavern  nnd  heard  given  the  order  embodied  in  The 
English  Moor  to  "draw  a  quart  of  the  best  Canary  into 
the  Apollo.  "1^ 

According  to  the  testimony  of  the  commendatory  verses 
prefixed  to  his  plays,  Brome  seems  to  have  been  on  good 
terms  with  many  other  dramatists  and  poets  of  the  time, 
and  these  generally  show  that  they  considered  him  frankly 
as  an  imitator  and  follower  of  Jonson.  Thomas  Dekker, 
John  Ford,  James  Shirley,  John  Tatham,  Sir  Aston 
Cockayne,  John  Hall,  and  Alexander  Brome,  wrote  in  warm 
praise  of  his  work.  A  number  of  these  connect  directly 
the  names  of  Brome  and  Jonson.  Prefixed  to  The  Antip- 
odes are  some  lines  by  C.  G.  beginning : 

' '  Jonson 's  alive  !  the  world  admiring  stands, ' ' 

and  ending 

"Therefore  repair  to  him,  and  praise  each  line 
Of  his  Volpone,  Sejanns,  Catiline. 
But  stay,  and  let  me  tell  you  where  he  is, 
He  sojourns  in  his  Brome 's  Antipodes!"^^ 

John  Hall  writes  concerning  A  Jovial  Crew: 

"You  do  not  invade, 
But  by  great  Jonson  were  made  free  o'  th'  trade. 
So  that  we  must,  in  this  your  labor  find 
Some  image  and  fair  relique  of  his  mind."  ^* 

10  Brome,  Works,  I,  272. 

17  Ihid.,  II,  41,  The  English  Moor,  III,  2. 

I'ilbid.,  Ill,  229. 

i9/6icf..  Ill,  345. 


60  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

With  regard  to  the  same  play,  John  Tatham  hopes  the  au- 
dience 

"May  be  conformable  to  Ben's  influence; 
And  finding  here  nature  and  art  agree 
May  swear,  thou  liv'st  in  him  and  he  in  thee."  -° 

The  ode  by  Thomas  Randolph  in  answer  to  Jonson's  Ode 
to  Himself  after  the  failure  of  The  New  Inn  in  1629,  makes 
uncomplimentary  reference  to  "what  Brome  swept  from 
thee."  2^  On  the  title-page  of  The  Weeding  of  Covent 
Garden  as  published  in  1658,  the  author  is  described  as 
"an  ingenious  servant  and  imitator  of  his  master,  that 
famously  renowned  poet,  Ben  Jonson. "  We  have,  then, 
full  and  complete  evidence  that  Brome  was  regarded  by 
his  master,  by  his  contemporaries,  and  by  himself  as  a 
follower  of  Ben  Jonson  in  English  comedy,  and  the  plays 
themselves  confirm  the  judgment. 

Fifteen  independently  written  plays  are  extant.  Of 
these,  three  are  distinctively  romantic  tragi-comedies :  The 
Lovesick  Court,  The  Queen's  Exchange,  The  Queen  and 
the  Concubine;  two  more  have  large  romantic  elements: 
The  Novella  and  The  English  Moor;  and  the  remaining 
ten  are  pure  comedies  of  manners  and  of  humors  based  on 
the  every-day  life  of  London.  From  the  last  group  chiefly 
do  we  get  the  material  for  a  study  of  Jonson's  influence 
on  Brome.  In  the  romances  Ward  finds  traces  of  tlie  in- 
fluence of  Shakespeare,  Fletcher  and  Massinger.--  Koep- 
pel  discovers  parallels  between  A  Mad  Couple  Well- 
Matched,  The  City  Wit,  The  Court  Beggar,  The  Antipodes, 
The  English  Moor,  The  Lovesick  Court,  The  Queen's  Ex- 
change, The  Queen  and  the  Concubine,  and  various  Sliake- 
spearian  plays.*'^     We  must  remember  that  Jonson  himself 

20  Brome,  Works,  III,  348. 

21  Jonson,  Works,  II,  387. 
a2\Vard,  III,  129-131. 

23  Koeppel,  Studicn   uhcr  Shakespeare's   JVirkunp,   42-47. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  61 

yielded  in  part  to  the  allureinent  of  the  romantic  method 
in  his  early  The  Case  is  Altered  and  his  late  The  New  Inn. 
Let  us  see,  first  of  all,  what  is  the  evidence  of  the  pro- 
logues and  epilogues  regarding  the  extent  to  which  Brome 
had  absorbed  Jonson's  theories  of  comedy.  In  the  epi- 
logue to  The  English  Moor  he  expresses  his  wish  that 

' '  You  judge  but  by  the  ancient  comic  laws. 
Not  by  their  course  who  in  this  latter  age 
Have  sown  such  pleasing  errors  on  the  stage, 
Which  he  no  more  will  choose  to  imitate. ' '  ^* 

Again,  in  the  prologue  to  The  Novella: 

* 'He'll  bide  his  trial,  and  submits  his  cause 
To  you  the  jury,  so  you'll  judge  by  laws."  -" 

He  proceeds  in  this  same  prologue  to  ask  judgment  only 
from  the  judicious  and  to  address  his  audience  quite  in 
Jonson's  tone  of  independence : 

"If  pride  or  ignorance  should  rule,  he  fears 
An  unfair  trial,  'cause  not  tried  by's  peers. 
Faith,  be  yourselves  a  while,  and  pass  your  vote 
On  what  you  understand,  and  do  not  dote 
On  things  'hove  nature  or  intelligence; 
All  we  pretend  to  is  but  mirth  and  sense." 

The  prologue  to  The  Sparagus  Garden  again  repeats  that 
the  author  never  did 

' ' strive 
By  arrogance  or  ambition  to  achieve 
More  praise  unto  himself,  or  more  applause 
Unto  his  scenes,  than  such,  as  know  the  laws 
Of  comedy  do  give;  he  only  those 
Now  prays  may  scan  his  verse  £ind  weigh  his  prose. ' '  ^^ 

24  Brome,  WorTiS,  II,  86. 

25  lUd.,  I,  104. 
28  7bi(7.,  Ill,  115. 


62  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Brome  would,  like  Jonson,  appeal  to  the  intellect  rather 
than  the  heart,  and  he  intends  that 

"No  handsome  love-toy  shall  your  time  beguile, 
Forcing  your  pity  to  a  sigh  or  smile."  •'' 

Nevertheless,  a  love-story  does  run  through  every  one  of 
his  comedies,  and  while  the  love-motive  is  not  always  the 
predominant  one,  yet  it  is  used  much  more  freely  and 
fully  than  by  Jonson.  The  master's  preference  for  ''deeds 
and  language  such  as  men  do  use"  has  affected  the  disciple 
and  he  condemns  those 

"That  count  all  slight  that's  under  us  or  nigh; 
And  only  those  for  worthy  subjects  deem, 
Fetched  or  reached  at  (at  least)  from  far  or  high; 
When  low  and  home-bred  subjects  have  their  use. 
As  well  as  those  fetched  from  on  high  or  far."-® 

The  prologues  are  marked  by  a  decided  self-consciousness 
but  it  is  not  masterful  and  confident  as  was  that  of  Jon- 
son. A  strange  mixture  of  self-praise  and  self-deprecia- 
tion appears  in  such  prologues  as  those  to  Ilic  yorthcrn 
Lass,  The  Demoiselle  or  The  Queen's  Exchange.  In  the 
last  we  find  this : 

' '  The  writer  of  this  play  who  ever  uses 
To  usher  with  his  modesty  the  muses 
Unto  the  stage,  he  that  scarce  ever  durst 
Of  poets  rank  himself  above  the  worst, 
Though  most  that  he  has  wit  has  pa.ssed  the  rest, 
And  ft)und  good  approbation  of  the  best ; 
He,  as  he  never  knew  to  bow,  he  says, 
As  little  fears  the  fortune  of  his  plays."''" 

27  Uronic,    M'orks,   I,    184. 
2>*Ibid.,  JII,  230. 
so/tif/.,  HI,  45fl.' 


FIELD  AND  BROME  63 

From  the  prologues  we  learn  that  Brome  aimed  to  regard 
the  laws  of  Roman  comedy,  to  value  the  criticism  of  the 
judicious  only,  make  chief  appeal  to  the  intellect  and 
present  chiefly  "low  and  homebred  subjects";  and  that, 
furthermore,  as  a  playwright  he  was  a  thoroughly  self- 
conscious  workman.  We  should  note,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  absence  of  the  assertion  of  didacticism,  the  reminder 
that  we  are  to  have  profit  mixed  with  our  delight,  con- 
stantly found  in  Jonson's  prologues. 

While  Brome  was  not  primarily  concerned  with  scourg- 
ing vices  and  follies,  yet  again  and  again  within  the  plays 
he  asserted  the  purpose  of  purging  or  curing  indiriduals, 
groups  of  persons,  or  places.  However,  the  moral  and 
ethical  attitude  taken  by  him  seems  often  assumed,  put  on 
from  the  outside,  and  not  deeply  ingrained  in  the  whole 
philosophy  of  life  as  with  Jonson.  He  usually  accepted 
conventional  moral  standards,  but  never  attained  to  a 
really  vital  grasp  of  the  spirit  of  morality.  Brome  some- 
times, as  in  A  Mad  Couple  Well  Matched,  lost  a  true  sense 
of  moral  values;  Jonson  never  was  guilty  of  such  offense. 
We  are  definitely  told  that  the  aim  is  to  "purge"  and 
"cure"  certain  personages  of  the  comedies,  as,  Sir  Swithin 
Whimbly,  the  Crying  Knight,  and  Camelion,  the  uxorious 
citizen,  in  The  New  Academy;  Pyannet,  the  scold,  in  The 
City  Wit;  Joyless,  the  jealous  old  husband  of  a  young  wife, 
and  Peregrine,  a  monomaniac  on  the  subject  of  traveling, 
in  The  Antipodes;  or  in  The  Court  Beggar,  Citwit,  whose 
habit  is  to  abuse  everybody  and  never  stand  by  anything 
he  has  said.  The  object  in  The  Sparagus  Garden,  we  are 
told,  is  to  "run  jealousy  out  of  breath"  and  to  "purge 
the  place  of  all  foul  purposes. ' '  Here  are  of  interest  some 
lines  written  by  C.  G.  on  this  play : 

"It  is  no  common  play. 
Within  thy  plot  of  ground,  no  weed  doth  spring 


CA  JOXSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

To  hurt  the  growth  of  any  underling ; 

Nor  is  thy  labyrinth  confus'd,  but  -we 

In  that  disorder  may  perfection  see. 

Thy  herbs  are  physical  and  do  more  good 

In  purging  humors  than  some's  letting  blood."'" 

The  plays  are  full  of  satirical  pictures  of  conditions  and 
classes  of  every  day  London  life.  "SYe  find  the  realism  not 
only  of  definite  localization  but  of  direct  portrayal  of  life 
seen  "from  below  stairs,"  ^^  sometimes  gross  and  repulsive, 
but  showing  keenness  and  variety  of  satirical  observation. 
Brome  knew  and  knew  well  "the  coarse  and  gross  and 
seamy  side  of  life,"  and  no  finer  sensibilities  kept  him 
from  picturing  it  often  with  "prosaic  nithleissness. " " 
Usually,  he  did  have  an  honest  purpose  to  further  the 
cause  of  morality.  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden  is  a 
direct  attempt  to  promote  a  definite  social  reform  in  a  cer- 
tain neighborhood.  In  the  second  prologue,  written  after 
the  play  had  accomplished  the  desired  practical  results,  the 
audience  is  urged  to 

"take  the  same  survey, 
Into  your  fancy,  as  our  poet  took 
Of  Covent  Garden,  when  he  wrote  his  book 
Some  ten  years  since,  when  it  was  grown  with  weeds. 
Nor  set,  as  now  it  is,  with  noble  seeds 
Which  make  the  garden  glorious;" 

and  to  remember  how 

"happily  his  pen 
Foretold  its  fair  improvement,  and  that  men 
Of  worth  and  honor  should  renown  tlic  place."" 

aoBromo,  Works,  III,  113. 
81  Scholling,  II,  330. 

32  SyniondB,  Tfie  Academy,  March,  1874. 

33  Brome,  Works,  II,  178. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  65 

Projects  or  speculations  in  monopolies,  one  of  the  great- 
est abuses  of  the  time,  and  most  effectively  ridiculed  in 
The  Devil  is  an  Ass,  Brome  satirizes  again  and  again,  in 
The  Demoiselle,  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden,  The 
Sparagiis  Garden,  The  Antipodes,  and  The  Queen's  Ex- 
change, while  The  Court  Beggar  finds  here  its  chief  theme. 
In  the  last  play,  most  of  the  characters  in  jest  or  earnest 
put  forth  some  project.     Here  are  two  of  interest: 

"My  project  is  that  no  plays  may  be  admitted  to  the 
stage  but  of  their  making  who  profess  or  endeavor  to  live 
by  the  quality;  that  no  courtiers,  divines,  students  at  law, 
lawyers'  clerks,  tradesmen  or  prentices,  be  allowed  to  write 
'em,  nor  the  works  of  any  poet  whatsoever  to  be  received 
to  the  stage,  though  freely  given  unto  the  actors;  nay, 
though  any  such  poet  should  give  a  sum  of  money  with  his 
play,  as  with  an  apprentice,  unless  the  author  do  also  be- 
come bound  that  it  shall  do  true  and  faithful  service  for 
a  whole  term ; "  ^^ 

"a  new  project 
For  building  a  new  theater  or  play-house 
Upon  the  Thames  on  barges  or  flat  boats, 
To  help  the  watermen  out  of  the  loss 
They've  suffer 'd  by  sedans. "^^ 
A  passage  on  the  same  subject  in  The  Antipodes  is  worth 
quoting  for  the  utter  absurdity  of  the  schemes: 

"Your  projects  are  all  good.     I  like  them  well, 

Especially  these  two:  this  for  th'  increase  of  wool; 

And  this  for  the  destroying  of  mice:  they're  good. 

And  grounded  on  great  reason.     As  for  yours, 

For  putting  down  the  infinite  use  of  jacks, 

"Whereby  the  education  of  young  children 

In  turning  spits  is  greatly  hindered, 

It  may  be  looked  into.     And  yours  against 

34  Brome,  Works,  I,  215;  The  Court  Beggar,  II,  1. 
^s  Ibid.,  T,  194;  The  Court  Beggar,  I,  1. 


66  JOXSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

The  multiplicity  of  pocket  watches, 
Whereby  much  neighborly  familiarity 
By  asking,  what  d'ye  guess  it  is  a  clock? 
Is  lost,  when  everj"-  puny  clerk  can  carr\' 
The  time  o'  the  day  in's  breeches.     This  and  these 
Hereafter  may  be  looked  into.     For  present, 
This  for  the  increase  of  wool,  that  is  to  say, 
By  flaying  of  live  horses  and  new  covering  them 
AVith  sheep-skins,  I  do  like  exceedingly. 
And  this  for  keeping  tame  owls  in  cities 
To  kill  up  rats  and  mice,  whereby  all  cats 
May  be  destroyed,  Jis  an  especial  means 
To  prevent  witchcraft  and  contagion. ' '  ^^ 

The  "roarers"  mtli  whom  we  became  familiar  in  the 
comedies  of  Jonson  and  his  immediate  contemporaries, 
and  whom  we  met  again  in  Field's  plays,  are  satirized  by 
Brome  both  as  "roarers"  or  members  of  the  "roaring 
brotherhood"  and  as  "blades,"  in  The  Demoiselle,  The 
Weeding  of  Covent  Garden,  and  The  Northern  Lass. 
Throughout  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden,  Brome  at- 
taclts  the  Puritans  in  the  character  of  Gabriel.  The  fol- 
lowing shows  clearly  direct  relation  to  Jonson 's  satire  in 
The  Alchemist  and  Bartliolomciv  Fair: 

"Gabriel.  It  is  nevertheless  a  tavern,  brother  ]\Iiliil.  and 
you  promised  and  covenanted  with  me  at  the  last 
house  of  noise  and  noisomeness,  that  you  would  not 
lead  me  to  any  more  taverns. 

Mihil.  Lead  you,  brother?  Men  use  to  be  led  from  taverns 
sometimes.  You  saw  I  did  not  lead  you  nor  bring 
you  to  any  that  was  more  a  tavern  than  the  last,  nor 
so  much  neither;  for  here  is  no  busli,  you  saw. 

Gal).   'Twas  that  betrayed  and  entrapped  me;  but  let  us 
yet  forsake  it. 
80  Brome,  Works,  III,  308;   The  Antijwdts,  IV,  9. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  67 

Mill.  Pray,  let  us  drink  first,  brother.  By  your  leave, 
here 's  to  you. 

Gab.  One  glassful  more  is  the  most  that  I  can  bear.  ]\Iy 
head  is  very  full,  and  laboreth  with  that  I  have  had 
already. 

Mill.  There,  sir,  I'll  undertake  one  good  fellow,  that  has 
but  just  as  much  religion  as  will  serve  an  honest  man's 
turn,  will  bear  more  wine  than  ten  of  these  giddy- 
brained  Puritans ;  their  heads  are  so  full  of  whimsies. 

Gah.  'Tis  mighty  heady,  mighty  heady,  and  truly  I  cannot 
but  think  that  the  over-much  abuse  of  these  outlandish 
liquors  have  bred  so  many  errors  in  the  Romish 
Church. 

Mill.  Indeed,  brother,  there  is  too  much  abuse  made  of 
such  good  creatures.  Wine  in  itself  is  good,  you  will 
grant,  though  the  excess  be  naught;  and  taverns  are 
not  contemptible,  so  the  company  be  good. 

Gah.  It  is  most  true,  w^e  find  that  holy  men  have  gone  to 
taverns,  and  made  good  use  of  'em  upon  their  peregri- 
nations. 

Mill.  And  cannot  men  be  content  to  take  now  and  then  a 
cup,  and  discourse  of  good  things  by  the  way?  As 
thus,  brother,  here's  a  remembrance,  if  she  be  living 
and  have  not  lost  her  honor,  to  our  cousin  Dorcas. 

Gah.  0  that  kinswoman  of  ours !  She  was  the  dearest  loss 
that  e'er  fell  from  our  house. 

Mill.  Pledge  her,  good  brother. 

Gal.  I  do— 

Mih.  I  hope  'twill  maudlinize  him. 

Gab.  But  have  you  never  seen  that  miscreant  that  wronged 
her,  since  he  did  that  same  ?     They  say  you  knew  him. 

Mih.  Alas,  suppose  I  had,  what  could  be  done?  She's  lost, 
we  see.  What  good  could  she  receive  by  any  course 
against  him  ? 

Galj.  It  had  been  good  to  have  humbled  him,  though,  into 


68  JOXSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

the  knowledge  of  his  transgression.  And  of  himself, 
for  his  soul's  good  either  by  course  of  law,  or  else  in 
case  of  necessity,  where  the  law  promiseth  no  release, 
by  your  own  right  hand  you  might  have  smote  him, 
smote  him  with  great  force,  yea,  smote  him  unto  the 
earth,  until  he  had  prayed  that  the  evil  might  be  taken 
from  him. 
Mih.  This  is  their  way  of  loving  enemies,  to  beat  'em  into 
goodness.  Well,  brother,  I  may  meet  with  him  again, 
and  then  I  know  what  to  do. ' '  ^^ 

From  his  master  Brome  had  imbibed  a  thorough- going 
dislike  for  gentlemen  of  fashion,  and  he  ridicules  them  with 
as  strong  feeling  as  Jonson,  if  not  with  as  telling  satire. 
In  The  City  Wit  the  question  is  asked:  ''Dost  thou  know 
what  a  gallant  of  fashion  is  ? "  and  the  answer  given :  "  I  '11 
tell  thee.  It  is  a  thing  that  but  once  in  three  months  has 
money  in  his  purse,  a  creature  made  up  of  promise  and 
protestation,  a  thing  that  .  .  .  flatters  all  he  fears, 
contemns  all  he  needs  not,  starves  all  that  serve  him,  and 
undoes  all  that  trust  him. ' '  ^®  The  rules  for  being  a 
courtier  are:  "Speak  nothing  that  you  mean,  perform 
nothing  that  you  promise,  pay  nothing  that  you  owe,  flatter 
all  above  you,  scorn  all  beneath  you,  deprave  all  in  pri- 
vate, jjraise  all  in  public,  keep  no  truth  in  your  mouth,  no 
faith  in  your  heart,  no  health  in  your  bones,  no  friendship 
in  your  mind,  no  modesty  in  your  eyes,  no  religion  in  your 
conscience,  but  especially  no  money  in  your  purse.  "^' 

Occa.sionally  the  citizens  get  their  turn:  "A  good  man 
i'  the  city  is  not  called  after  his  good  deeds  but  the  known 
weight  of  his  purse"  ;^"  and  Pyannet  in  Tin  City  ^yit  seofTs 
at  the  idea  of  an  honest  citizen:  "Honest  man!  who  the 

8T  Brome,  Works,  II,  01-02;  The  Wceditiy  of  Coirnt  Garden,  IV,  1. 
ssjhid.,  I,  2'.l'2;   The  Citii   Wit,  I,  2. 
i^Ihid.,  T,  300;   The  City  Wit,  II,  3. 
*oihid.,  III.  23;  The  Northern  Lass,  II,  1. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  69 

devil  wished  thee  to  be  an  honest  man?  Here's  my  wor- 
shipful husband,  Mr.  Sneakup,  that  from  a  grazier  is  come 
to  be  a  justice  of  peace,  and  what,  as  an  honest  man  ?  He 
grew  to  be  able  to  give  nine  hundred  pound  with  my  daugh- 
ter; and  what,  by  honesty?  j\Ir.  Sneakup  and  I  are  come 
up  to  live  i'  the  city,  and  here  we  have  lain  these  three 
years,  and  what,  for  honesty?  Honesty!  What  should 
the  city  do  with  honesty  when  'tis  enough  to  undo  a  whole 
corporation?  "Why  are  your  wares  gummed;  your  shops 
dark ;  your  prizes  writ  in  strange  characters ;  what,  for  hon- 
esty? Honesty!  Why  is  hard  wax  called  merchants' 
wax,  and  is  said  seldom  or  never  to  be  ripped  off  but  it 
plucks  the  skin  of  a  lordship  -with  it?  What,  for  hon- 
esty ?"*i 

In  the  construction  of  his  plots,  as  we  have  seen,  Brome 
purposed  to  follow  the  classic  rules,  and  we  do  find  com- 
parative regularity.  He  was  a  skilled  and  trained  workman, 
a  clever  playwright  who  had  learned  his  craft  from  Jonson 
and  knew  well  the  requirements  of  the  stage.  He  was  in- 
genious and  inventive,  and  some  of  the  plays,  as  The  North- 
ern Lass,  A  Jovial  Crew,  The  Antipodes,  and  The  City  Wit, 
have  original  situations  that  remain  distinctively  in  mind. 
As  in  Jonson 's  plays,  we  have  complicated  intrigue,  jj)4pk- 
ery  and  roguerj^  of  all  kinds,  usually  skillfully  magged. 
Sometimes  Brome  fell  into  the  error,  from  which  t^^son 
was  by  no  means  always  free,  of  crowding  the  stage  with 
figures  and  entangling  the  action  with  schemes  so  many  and 
varied  that  confusion  and  bewilderment  result.  Through- 
out, the  method  of  Jonson  is  clearly  discernible  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  plays. 

There  are  situations  that  directly  or  indirectly  recall 
Jonson 's  comedies.  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden  is 
modeled  on  Bartholomew  Fair,  and  the  debt  frankly  ac- 
knowledged.    Cockbrain,    like    Justice    Overdo,    zealously 

<i  Brome,  Works,  I,  284-285;  The  City  Wit,  I,  1. 


^ 


70  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

disguises  himself  and  goes  among  the  roisterei-s  and  law- 
breakers of  Covent  Garden,  only  to  meet  with  experiences 
similar  to  those  of  his  Avorthy  predecessor  when  he  went  to 
Bartholomew  Fair.  As  Cockbrain  girds  up  his  courage  for 
investigation  and  reform,  he  says:  "And  so,  as  my  rever- 
end ancestor,  Justice  Overdo,  was  wont  to  say,  'In  heaven's 
name  and  the  King's,  and  for  the  good  of  the  common- 
wealth, I  will  go  about  it.'"*-  Gabriel,  with  his  cant 
phrases  and  assumed  piety,  goes  to  Covent  Garden  as  Zeal- 
of-the-land  Busy  to  Bartholomew  Fair;  and  Clotpoll,  the 
foolish  gull  with  plenty  of  money  to  spend,  is  closely  re- 
lated to  Bartholomew  Cokes  in  folly  and  resulting  mishaps. 
In  The  Court  Beggar,  the  group  of  projectors  working 
upon  Sir  Andrew  IMendicant  and  persuading  him  they  can 
make  him  a  rich  lord,  recall  the  gulling  of  Fitzdotterel  in 
The  Devil  is  an  Ass.  Swinburne  thinks  that  the  influence 
of  Volpone  is  evident  in  The  Novella.*^'  There  may  be  a 
slight  reminiscence  of  Volpone  and  ]\Iosca  in  the  manner 
in  w'hich  Victoria,  the  Novella,  and  her  servant  Paulo  set 
up  an  establisliment  and  seek  to  draw  men  of  all  kinds  to 
them,  but  the  purpose,  methods  and  characters  are  entirely 
different.  The  plot  of  The  City  Wit  is  decidedly  Jon- 
sonian  in  its  processes  of  gulling  and  tricking  a  large  group 
of  pei^ns  by  a  small  group.  Crazy,  a  young  citizen  who 
has  l(#t  his  money  and  whose  friends  have  turned  against 
him,  tferemy  his  boy  sen'ant,  and  Crack,  another  bi»y,  make 
covenant  together,  "like  Subtle,  Doll  and  Face,"  **  to  cozen 
the  other  character,  and  they  succeed  admirably.  The 
influence  of  The  Alchemist  is  manifest  in  the  situations 
tliat  follow.  Further,  the  boy  Jeremy  is  dressed  as  a 
woman  and  marries,  as  tlie  boy  in  Epicanc.  The  School 
of  Comjiliiiu'rit  in  The  Xcw  Acadcnnf  takes  us  back  again 

<-' Bronio,  Worh.t,  II,  2;   The  Wrrdin;/  of  (\>V(ut  Oanlcn,  I,  1. 

*^  Furtniyhlly  Review,  LVII,  1802. 

*«  Bromc,  ^Yorks,  I,  318;   The  City  ^Vit,  III,  1. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  71 

to  The  Devil  is  an  Ass  and  Epiccene  with  their  ex- 
positions of  fashion  and  compliment.  The  suggestion  for 
The  Antipodes,  "Ward  thinks,  may  have  been  taken  from 
Jonson's  masque  The  World  in  the  Moon.*^ 

Brome  in  The  Sparagus  tells  us  what  he  thinks  of  hu- 
mors :  ' '  For  as  in  every  instrument  are  all  tunes  to  him  that 
has  the  skill  to  find  out  the  stops,  so  in  every  man  are  all 
humors  to  him  that  can  find  their  faucets,  and  draw  'em 
out  to  his  purpose. "  ^®  In  choice  and  execution  of  comic 
types  Brome  shows  constantly  strong  evidence  of  Jonson's 
influence.  Often  we  do  get  tricks  and  humors  rather  than 
persons,  but  that  is  true  also  of  Jonson,  and  some  of 
Brome 's  humorous  characters  are  original,  interesting  and 
distinctive.  The  finer  powers  of  Jonson  in  bringing  out 
the  subtle  individuality  of  the  representative  of  a  type 
Brome  does  not  possess.  He  lacks  the  true  artistic  sense 
that  hides  bare  fundamental  conception,  and  he  is  often  too 
conscientiously  concerned  that  his  idea  shall  be  fully 
grasped.  This  is  evident  in  the  way  he  sometimes  points 
out  the  applicability  of  a  name,  as  that  of  Touchwood  in 
The  Sjyaragus  Garden:  "He  has  not  his  name  for  nothing, 
old  Touchwood!  He  is  all  fire  if  he  be  incensed;  but  so 
soft  and  gentle  that  you  may  wind  him  about  your  finger 
or  carry  him  in  your  bosom  if  you  handle  him  rightly ;  but 
still,  be  wary,  for  the  least  spark  kindles  him. ' '  *^  Brome 
follows  closely  Jonson's  custom  of  naming  characters  so 
as  to  indicate  ruling  quality  or  humor.  Frequently  he 
identifies  his  persons  by  means  of  catch  phrases  or  say- 
ings, "tags,"  and  sometimes  falls  into  mere  caricature. 
Striker  in  The  Sparagus  Garden  constantly  reiterates, 
"there  I  am  wi'  ye,"  and  Hearty  in  A  Jovial  Crew, 
"there's  a  whim  now";  Geron  of  The  Love-Sick  Court  is 

45  Ward,  III,  130. 

46  Brome,  Works,  III,  160;   The  Sparagus  Garden,  III,  4. 
iT  Ibid.,  Ill,  117-118;   The-Sparagus  Garden,  I,  1. 


72  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

forever  comparing  everything  to  "as  -whilom  said"  or  "as 
whilom  did"  someone  sometime;  Saleware  in  A  Mad 
Couple  Well  Matched  quotes  on  every  possible  occasion, 
"Sapientia  mea  mihi,  stultitia  tua  tibi." 

The  personages  that  stand  out  most  clearly  in  the  com- 
edies are  with  few  exceptions  characters  created  according 
to  the  theory'  of  humors.  Justice  Bumpsey  of  The  Demoi- 
selle, one  of  Brome's  most  original  creations,  by  his  humor 
of  spending  recklessly  an  equal  amount  of  money  in  a  like 
manner,  cures  his  son-in-law  of  useless  extravagance.  The 
humor  of  his  "fashion-sick"  wife  is  to  "learn  and  practice 
carriage. ' '  Pyannet  who  has  * '  the  tongue-a^e, ' '  Sarpego, 
the  Avearisome  pedant,  and  Linsy-AYolsey,  the  miserly  citi- 
zen, in  The  City  Wit,  are  Jonsonian  types.  So  also  are  Sir 
Andrew  Mendicant,  of  The  Court  Beggar,  who  sells  his 
countrj^  estate  to  purchase  wit  at  court,  and  is  duped  into 
believing  he  may  obtain  a  lordship  by  means  of  wild  pro- 
jects; Lady  Strangelove,  "the  humorous  widow  that  loves 
to  be  courted;"  Sir  Raphael  "SYinterplum,  "who  has  licked 
up  a  living  with  his  tongue,  makes  all  great  tables  his  own, 
and  eats  for  his  talk;"  and  Citwit,  whose  humor  is  to  an- 
swer all  questions  asked,  whether  addressed  to  him  or  not, 
abuse  everybody  spoken  of,  and,  when  called  to  account, 
excuse  himself  from  a  quarrel  by  declaring  he  spoke  only 
"comparatively."  In  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden, 
Cockbrain,  the  reforming  justice,  and  Gabriel,  the  sup- 
posed saintly  Puritan,  as  we  have  seen  above,  bear  direct 
likeness  to  Justice  Overdo  and  Zeal-of-tlu'-land  T^xiay  in 
Bartholomew  Fair;  Clotpoll  is  another  country  gull  wlio 
has  come  to  town  with  money  and  is  anxious  to  learn  to 
roar  and  be  a  gentlcinnn;  and  Crosswill  objects  to  every- 
thing proposed  and  crosses  his  children  in  all  they  ask,  so 
that  they  must  get  what  they  want  by  seeming  to  seek  the 
very  opposite. 

Mrs.    Crostill.   Ihc   Imiiidntiis    widow    of    .1     Mud   Couple 


FIELD  AND  BROME  73 

Well  Matched,  is  also  moved  by  a  spirit  of  contradiction, 
and  is  won  by  the  suitor  that  slights  her  most.  Saleware 
of  this  same  play  is  foolishly  proud  of  his  courtly  wife  and 
refuses  to  be  made  jealous,  considering  every  plain  piece 
of  evidence  of  her  unfaithfulness  but  a  plot  to  make  him 
jealous.  Rafe  Camelion  in  The  New  Academy  is  another 
doting  husband,  as  blind  as  Deliro  in  Every  Man  out  of  His 
Humor  and  as  effectively  disillusioned.  Sir  Smthin  Whim- 
bly,  ''the  crying  knight,"  always  weeps  at  the  mention  of 
his  dead  wife,  is  "inspired  with  the  infection  of  poetry" 
whenever  he  thinks  of  her,  and  is  cured  by  one  of  the  other 
characters  who  sets  out  to  "turn  the  tide  of's  tears." 
Matchill  marries  his  maid  to  spite  his  daughter  and  kin- 
dred, thinking  to  get ' '  a  rare  piece  of  obedience, ' '  but  finds 
himself  sadly  mistaken.  Justice  Clark  of  A  Jovial  Crew,  in 
trying  cases,  does  all  the  talking  and  testifying  himself ;  for 
"if  we  both  speak  together,  how  shall  we  hear  one  an- 
other?" He  tells  a  witness:  "I  can  inform  myself,  sir, 
by  your  looks.  I  have  taken  a  hundred  examinations  i' 
my  days,  of  felons  and  other  offenders,  out  of  their  very 
countenances,  and  wrote  'em  down  verbatim  to  what  they 
would  have  said.  I  am  sure  it  has  served  to  hang  some  of 
'em  and  whip  the  rest. ' '  *® 

There  are  several  characters  of  humors  in  The  Northern 
Lass:  AVidgine,  a  silly  verse-maker  who  continually  quotes 
his  sister,  takes  pride  in  his  tutor's  wit,  and  is  a  weaker 
combination  of  Stephen  and  Matthew  in  Every  Man  in  His 
Humor;  Captain  Anville,  a  braggart  and  faint  shadow  of 
Bobadil;  Sir  Solomon  Nonsense,  a  Cornish  countryman 
and  "a  parrot  or  a  popinjay";  and  Howdee,  who  aspires 
to  the  position  of  a  gentleman  usher  and  diligentlj^  cons 
"the  ushers'  grammar."  Buzzard  in  The  English  Moor, 
as  Ward  points  out,*''  is  evidently  a  relation  to  Jonson's 

*8  Brome,  Works,  III,  435 ;  A  Jovial  Crew,  IV,  2. 
49  Ward,  III,   1292. 


74  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Sir  Amorous  La-Foole.  "The  Buzzards,"  he  tells  us,  "are 
all  gentlemen.  "SYe  came  in  with  the  Conqueror.  Our 
name  (as  the  French  has  it)  is  Beau-Desert,  which  signifies 
— Friends,  what  does  it  signify  ?"'*''  Geron,  the  pedant  of 
The  Lovesick  Court,  has  a  humor  of  whiloraing  so  persist- 
ently that  even  his  doting  old  mother  exclaims  impatiently, 
"Forbear  your  whiloms  and  your  old  said  saws,"  while  the 
lady  whom  he  courts,  when  told  that  he  loves  her,  de- 
clares : 

"That's  more  than  I  e'er  knew  or  read  by  all 
He  speaks  or  writes  of  me.     He  clothes  his  words 
In  furs  and  hoods,  so  that  I  cannot  find 
The  naked  meaning  of  his  business. ' '  ^'^ 

His  old  mother,  Garrula,  bears  out  her  name  and  for  \er\ 
talking  cannot  tell  the  news  she  comes  to  bring. 

The  comedies  contain  many  other  characters  of  humors, 
but  these  suffice  to  show  the  types  presented.  A  certain 
rigidity  and  artificiality  we  do  find,  but  some  of  the  per- 
sonages are  original  and  interesting  and  show  that  Brome 
had  a  broad  sense  of  humor  and  a  real  knowledge  of  the 
foibles  and  follies  of  human  nature.  The  influence  of  Jon- 
son  is  constantly  evident  in  conception  and  in  method  of 
portrayal.  However,  Brome  produced,  on  the  whole,  few 
direct  imitations  of  Jonson's  characters.  It  was  the  gen- 
eral theory  that  he  learned  thoroughly  and  applied  faith- 
fully. 

Brome  appears  to  liave  acquired  a  cert<ain  amount  of 
learning  and  makes  some  show  of  classical  knowledge.  In 
several  plays  he  attempts  to  give  the  impression  of  such 
a  background,  but  in  general  he  w;is  neither  supported  nor 
weighed  down  by  Jonsonian  learning.  AYe  find  an  abun- 
dance of  Latin  quotations  in  The  Citij  Wit  and  The  Queen 

6"  Bromo.  Works,  II,  43;   The  Knplish   Moor,  III,  2. 
61  Ibid.,  II,  123;   The  Lovesick  Court,  III,  1. 


FIELD  AND  BROME  75 

and  the  Conciibine,  and  in  some  of  the  plays,  as  The  City 
Wit,  The  Lovesick  Court  and  The  Court  Beggar,  allusions 
to  classical  writers  are  frequent.  It  is  worth  noting,  too, 
that  these  plays  are  all  among  Brome's  earliest  productions. 
He  occasionally  makes  a  display  of  out  of  the  way  learn- 
ing, as  in  the  enumeration  of  dances  in  The  New  Academy, 
the  militarj^  terms  of  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden,  or 
the  beggar's  peculiar  dialect  in  A  Jovial  Crew. 

The  vocabulary  used  in  the  plays  shows,  on  the  whole, 
much  less  likeness  to  Jonson's  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, not  nearly  so  much  as  that  of  some  of  the  play- 
^vrights  studied  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  largest 
number  of  words  we  find  in  The  City  Wit,  The  Demoiselle, 
The  Court  Beggar,  The  Weeding  of  Covent  Garden  and 
The  Sparagus  Garden.  These  plays  present  Brome's  most 
realistic  and  direct  pictures  of  contemporary  life,  and  so 
use  the  words  of  common  street  and  tavern  talk  most  fre- 
quently. Verse  and  prose  are  used  in  varying  proportions. 
Brome  was  not  a  poet,  and  his  rough,  halting  verse,  though 
aiming  at  regularity,  can  hardly  be  said  to  show  Jonson's 
influence. 

A  study  of  Brome's  plays  bears  out  fully  the  testimony 
of  Jonson  and  of  contemporaries,  as  well  as  the  claim  of 
Brome  himself,  that  he  was  a  ' '  Son  of  Ben. ' '  In  conscious 
theory  and  in  practical  application  he  followed  after  his 
master,  however  afar  off  when  judged  as  to  intellectual 
masteiy  and  literary  genius.  His  realistic  pictures  of  con- 
temporary life,  moral  satire,  plots  of  complicated  intrigue, 
and  characters  of  humors,  testify  clearly  who  was  his 
teacher  in  the  art  of  wiiting  comedy. 


CHAPTER  IV 

OTHER   "sons  of   BEN"   IN   ENGLISH    COMEDY   BEFORE  THE 
CLOSING  OF  THE  THEATERS  IN  1642. 

During  the  years  between  1620  and  1642,  a  considerable 
number  of  writers  in  one  or  more  plays  tried  their  hand 
at  the  Jonsonian  comedy  of  humors.  ]\Iany  of  these  were 
gentlemen,  and  did  not,  like  the  dramatists  whom  we  have 
previously  studied,  find  a  profession  and  a  livelihood  in 
connection  with  the  stage,  but  wrote  an  occasional  play  as 
a  diversion  from  their  work  as  preacher,  teacher,  soldier 
or  statesman.  With  some  of  them,  we  discover  in  com- 
mendatory verses  and  direct  references  of  one  kind  or  an- 
other, evidences  of  personal  relation  to  Jonson ;  but  with 
others,  only  from  a  study  of  their  plays  do  we  know  that 
they  admired  and  sought  to  imitate  his  comedy.  They 
did  not,  like  the  earlier  and  greater  playwrights,  work  side 
by  side  with  him  as  comrades  and  rivals,  but  were,  some- 
times near  and  sometimes  far  off,  followers  of  an  acknowl- 
edged master.  Some  show  his  general  inthience  in  hu- 
morous personages,  satiric  tone  and  plots  of  gullery- ;  others 
are  direct  and  close  imitators  of  particular  passages  and 
plots.  ]\Iany  of  this  group,  tliough  just  what  ones  we  do 
not  always  know,  must  have  shared  in  the  happy  feasts  of 
wit  and  laugliter  at  the  Devil  Tavern.  To  curious  stu- 
dents, a  membei-sliip  list  of  those  admitted  by  Ben  to  his 
sacred  circle,  would  be  of  decided  interest. 

Thomas  May,  a  Cani])ridge  graduate,  a  lawyer  of  Cray's 
Inn,  and  in  iiis  earlier  years  a  member  of  court  circles,  was 
allied  to  Jonson  in  his  love  of  classical  learning  and  his 
production  of  English  tragedies  on  historical  themes,  as 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  77 

well  as  in  his  one  comedy  of  manners  and  humors.  He 
has  been  better  known  as  an  historian  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment than  as  a  dramatist.  Langbaine  tells  us  that  in  his 
university  days  "he  was  a  very  close  student  and  what 
stock  of  learning  he  then  treasured  up  is  apparent  from 
his  works. ' '  ^  Virgil 's  Georgics,  some  of  Martial 's  Epi- 
grams and  Luean's  Pharsalia  were  translated  by  him,  and 
the  last  of  these,  to  quote  Langbaine  again,  "is  extremely 
commended  by  our  famous  Jonson. ' '  ^  About  this  work 
Jonson  wrote  "To  my  chosen  friend,  the  learned  trans- 
lator of  Lucan,  Thomas  May,  Esquire,"  a  highly  compli- 
mentary poem,  and  signed  it,  "your  true  friend  in  judg- 
ment and  choice,  Ben  Jonson."  ^  To  the  Jansonus  Virhius 
May  contributed  a  poem  in  praise  of  "Great  Jonson,  King 
of  English  poetry,"  his  "judgment,  art  and  wit."*  Al- 
though the  classical  tragedies,  Cleopatra,  Julia  Agrippina, 
Antigone,  and  Julius  Ccesar,  are  largely  affected  by  the 
contemporary  spirit  of  romance  and  the  work  of  Fletcher, 
yet  they  show  a  frank  following  of  Jonson  in  choice  and 
treatment  of  material.^ 

It  is  with  May's  one  comedy  of  manners,  The  Old  Couple, 
that  we  are  especially  concerned  here.  This  play  was  not 
printed  until  1658,  but  Fleay  considers  it  to  have  been 
written  before  The  Heir,  a  tragi-comedy  on  the  accepted 
Fletcherian  model  definitely  stated  to  have  been  acted  in 
1620,  and  so  dates  it  1619  or  1620."  The  general  conduct 
of  the  plot,  which  is  originally  conceived  and  planned, 
tends  toward  the  romantic  method  rather  than  the  Jon- 
sonian  in  such  situations  as  that  of  Scudmore,  supposed 
to  be  slain  but  disguised  as  Lady  Covet 's  chaplain  while 

1  Langbaine,  360. 
2/6id.,  364. 

3  Jonson,  Works,  III,  294-295. 

4  lUd.,  Ill,  504. 
oSchelling,  II,  45,  268. 

e  Fleay,  II,  83.  "  ' 


78  JONSOX  .VND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

his  betrothed  lady  wanders  about  in  a  wood  sing:ing  songs 
of  bitter  lament,  or  of  Eiigeny  in  close  hiding  in  the  wood 
from  pursuit  for  the  murder  he  thinks  he  has  committed. 
However,  in  the  schemes  by  which  the  miserly  old  people. 
Sir  Argent  Scrape,  Lady  Covet  and  Earthworm  are  cured 
of  their  avarice,  and  the  simple  gull  Dotterel  is  fooled 
into  marrying  Lady  "Wliimsey,  as  well  as  in  the  regard  for 
the  unities  of  time  and  place,  we  find  traces  of  Jonson's 
influence. 

The  moral  intent  of  The  Old  Couple  is  unmistakable. 
That  it  was  '  *  chiefly  designed  an  antidote  against  covetous- 
ness,"  Langbaine  had  no  doubt.'  Not  only  in  the  general 
theme  do  we  discover  the  ethical  purpose  but  in  expository 
moral  utterances  on  avarice  and  charity,  and  in  plain 
statements  of  intention  to  "purge"  and  "cure"  the  covet- 
ous-minded personages.  A  number  of  the  characters  have 
descriptive  names,  are  conceived  along  simple  lines  as  pos- 
sessing a  ruling  quality,  and  are  somewhat  influenced  by 
the  allegorical  point  of  view,  yet  they  are  far  from  being 
mere  abstractions.  Dotterel,  the  gull  who  is  with  good 
reason  not  afraid  of  his  brain  being  hurt  by  wine,  is  most 
fully  Jonsonian  in  conception  and  portrayal.  We  have 
before  noted  Jonson's  fondnes.s  for  references  to  and 
analogies  with  the  foolish  dotterel,  particularlj'^  as  shown 
in  the  name  and  character  of  Fitzdotterel  of  The  Devil  is 
an  Ass.  The  Dotterel  of  The  Olel  Couple  Lady  Whimsey 
succeeds  in  marrying,  and  thus  also  she  gets  control  of  his 
wealth : 

"  Euphues.  Our  Dotterel,  then,  is  caught? 

Barnct.  He  is,  and  just 

As  Dotterels  used  to  be :  the  lady  first 
Advanc'd  toward  him,  stretch 'd  forth  her  wing, 
and  he 

1  Langbaine,  304. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  79 

Met  her  with  all  expressions;  and  he's  caught 
As  fast  in  her  lime-twigs  as  he  can  be, 
Until  the  church  confirm  it. 

Euph.  There  will  be 

Another  brave  estate  for  her  to  spend. 

Bar.  Others  will  be  the  better  for't;  and  if 

None  but  a  Dotterel  suffer  for't,  what  loss 
Of  his  can  countervail  the  least  good  fortune 
That  may  from  thence  blow  to  another  man  ? "  * 

The  construction,  didactic  purpose  and  personages  of 
The  Old  Couple  indicate  a  general  acquaintance  with  the 
methods  of  Jonson,  and  not  a  direct  imitation  of  individual 
plays  nor  even  a  close  following  of  theories. 

Robert  Davenport  can  hardly  be  called  a  "Son  of  Ben," 
yet  he  deserves  brief  notice  here  as  having  felt,  though  only 
to  a  slight  extent  and  at  long  range,  the  influence  of  Jon- 
son's  theory  of  humors.  His  two  comedies,  The  City 
Night-Cap  and  A  New  Trick  to  Cheat  the  Devil,  illustrate 
well  the  way  in  which  the  idea  of  humors  had  become  a 
common  dramatic  possession  and  crept  now  and  again, 
perhaps  often  with  little  conscious  thought  on  the  part  of 
the  writer,  into  plays  which  otherwise  exhibit  no  traces  of 
Jonson 's  methods.  Lodovick  of  The  City  Night-Cap,  li- 
censed in  1624,  persists  in  foolishly  trusting  a  faithless 
wife,  asserting  "my  humor's  my  humor"  and  forever  re- 
peating "crede  quo  habes  et  habes."  In  A  New  Trick  to 
Cheat  the  Devil,  printed  in  1639,  Treatwell,  Master  and 
Mistress  Changeable,  and  Slightall,  are  described  by  their 
names  and  in  a  vague  and  general  way  have  their  humors. 
One  of  the  persons  of  this  play  pleads  for  quiet  and  de- 
clares 


sDodsley's  Old  English  Plays,  ed.  by  Hazlitt,  XII,  41;   The  Old 
Couple,  III,  1. 


80  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

"I'm  like  the  man  that  could  endure  no  noise 
In  th'  Silent  Woman,  answer  all  in  signs."* 

Thomas  Randolph  spent  a  great  part  of  his  short  life 
of  twenty-nine  years  at  the  Universities  of  Cambridge  and 
Oxford,  was  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  a  poet,  and  the  chief 
university  dramatist  of  the  time.  By  reason  of  his 
Amyntas,  one  of  the  two  or  three  best  Elizabethan  pastoral 
dramas,  his  Hey  for  Honesty,  a  readaptation  of  Aristo- 
phanes' Plutus,  the  farcical  dialogue  of  Aristippus  and 
monologue  of  The  Conceited  Pedlar,  two  comedies,  The 
Jealous  Lover's,  and  The  Muses'  Looking-glass,  and  his 
various  short  poems,  Randolph  holds  a  high  place  among 
the  "Sons  of  Ben."  Complimentary  verses  testify  to  his 
friendship  with  James  Shirley  and  Sir  Aston  Cockayne, 
and  we  have  abundant  evidence  of  his  admiration  and  affec- 
tion for  Jonson.  A  study  of  such  writers  as  ^lay,  Ran- 
dolph and  Cartwright,  whose  work  bears  a  decidedly  aca- 
demic stamp  and  like\Wse  has  a  clear  relation  to  the  comedy 
of  humors,  makes  us  wish  that  we  knew  just  what  was  Jon- 
son's  contact  with  the  universities,  and  whether  perhaps 
he  came  in  touch  directly  on  academic  ground  witli  the 
waiters  of  college  drama. 

While  an  undergraduate,  Randolph  seems  to  have  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Jonson,  and  the  following  anecdote, 
interesting,  whether  or  not  authentic,  has  been  handed 
down : 

"Randolph,  who  was  then  a  student  in  Cambridge,  hav- 
ing stayed  in  Loudon  so  long  that  he  might  truly  be  said 
to  have  had  a  parley  ^nth  his  empty  purse,  was  resolved 
to  see  Ben  Jonson  with  his  associates,  who,  as  he  heard,  at 
a  set  time  kept  a  club  together  at  the  Devil  Tavern,  near 
Temple  Bar.     Accordingly  he  went  thither  at  the  specified 

»  Bullt'ii's  Old  Plays,  New  Series,  III,  Works  of  Davenport,  292; 
A  New  Trick  to  Vhiat  the  Devil,  V,  3. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  81 

time;  but,  being  unknown  to  them,  and  wanting  money, 
which,  to  a  spirit  like  Tom's,  was  the  most  daunting  thing 
in  the  world,  he  peeped  into  the  room  where  they  were,  and 
was  espied  by  Ben  Jonson,  who,  seeing  him  in  a  scholastic 
threadbare  habit,  cried  out,  'John  Bo-peep,  come  in!' 
which  accordingly  he  did.  They  immediately  began  to 
rhyme  upon  the  meanness  of  his  clothes,  asking  him  if  he 
could  not  make  a  verse,  and  withal  to  call  for  his  pot  of 
sack.  There  being  but  four  of  them  he  immediately  re- 
plied— 

"  *I  John  Bo-peep, 

To  you  four  sheep, 
With  each  one  his  good  fleece; 

If  that  you  are  willing. 

To  give  me  five  shilling, 
'Tis  fifteen  pence  a  piece. ' 

'Why,'  exclaimed  Ben  Jonson,  'I  believe  this  is  my  son 
Randolph';  which  being  made  known  to  them,  he  was 
kindly  entertained  in  their  company,  and  Ben  Jonson  ever 
after  called  him  his  son."  ^° 

By  several  contemporary  writers  Randolph's  name  is 
closely  linked  with  that  of  Jonson.  Among  some  verses 
before  Harding's  Sicily  and  Naples  or  the  Fatal  Union, 
1640,  are  these: 

"Thus,  friend,  the  bays  still  flourish.     Jonson  dead, 
Randolph  deceas'd,  they  fall  to  crown  thy  head." 

In  The  Poet's  Condition,  1662,  by  Rowland  Watkyns,  the 
two  poets  are  named  together: 

"What  lands  had  Randolph,  or  great  Ben?"^^ 

10  Randolph,  Works,  Introduction,  XI.  Hazlitt's  Islew  London 
.Test-Book,  1871,  p.  338. 

11  Ihid.,  I,  p.  XIII. 


82  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

The  writer  of  the  preface  to  the  reader  before  Hey  for  Hon- 
esty tells  us  that  "the  adopted  son  of  Ben  Jonson,  being 
the  translator  hereof,  followed  his  father's  steps;  they  both 
of  them  loved  sack  and  harmless  mirth."  " 
Richard  West  writes  of  Randolph: 

"Read's  flow'ry  pastorals,  and  you  will  swear 
He  was  not  Jonson 's  only,  but  Pan's  heir."" 

In  some  dedicatory  verses  6.  W.  calls  him  again  ' '  true  son 
and  heir"  of  "immortal  Ben."" 

Three  poems  Randolph  himself  wrote  to  Jonson.  The 
first  is  "A  gratulatory  to  ]\Iaster  Ben  Jonson  for  his 
adopting  of  him  to  be  his  son. ' '  He  glories  in  the  honor  be- 
stowed on  him: 

"thy  adoption  quits  me  of  all  fear, 
And  makes  me  challenge  a  child's  portion  there. 

.     .     .     Ovid,  Virgil  and  the  Latin  lyre 

That  is  so  like  thee,  Horace,  the  whole  quire 

Of  poets  are,  by  thy  adoption,  all 

My  uncles  ...... 

boast  I  must, 
Being  son  of  his  adoption 
And  to  say  truth,  that  which  is  best  in  me 
May  call  you  father;  'twas  begot  by  thee. 
Have  I  a  spark  of  that  celestial  tlame 
Within  me?     I  confess  I  stole  the  same 
Prometheus-like,  from  thee."" 

Another  poem  is  ' '  An  answer  to  Master  Ben  Jonson 's  Ode, 

12  Randolph,  Works,  II,  370. 
i8/6i(/.,  II,  f)17. 
^*lhid.,  II,  507. 
»76t(i.,  II,  637-538. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  83 

to  persuade  him  not  to  leave  the  stage"  after  the  failure 
of  The  New  Inn,  1629',  for 

"I  know  thy  worth,  and  that  thy  lofty  strains  '' 

Write  not  to  clothes,  but  brains. 
But  thy  great  spleen  doth  rise, 
Cause  moles  will  have  no  eyes ; 
This  only  in  my  Ben  I  faulty  find. 
He 's  angr}^,  they  '11  not  see  him  that  are  blind. ' '  ^* 

In  "An  Eclogue  to  Master  Jonson"  Tityrus  is  Jonson 
and  Damon,  Randolph.  Damon  has  broken  his  reed  and 
does  not  care  to  mend  it.  Tityrus  urges  him  to  continue 
to  sen'e  the  muses,  for 

"I  meant  to  thee  / 

Of  all  the  sons  I  have,  by  legacy 
To  have  bequeath 'd  my  pipe.     Thee,  thee  of  all 
I  meant  it  should  her  second  master  call."  ^' 

Randolph's  dramatic  work  was  done  between  the  years 
1629  and  1633,  and  includes  a  pastoral,  a  dialogue,  a  mono- 
logue and  three  comedies.  The  testimony  of  contempo- 
raries and  the  full  recognition  of  debt  from  Randolph  him- 
self would  make  us  expect  to  find  in  his  work  many  evi- 
dences of  Jonson 's  influence.  Randolph,  however,  was  a 
close  student  and  genuine  lover  of  the  classics,  and  drew 
first  hand  from  Aristophanes,  Plautus  and  Terence,  as  Jon- 
son had  done,  ideas  about  plot,  satire  and  character  in 
comedy.  Whether  Jonson  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
direction  Randolph's  study  and  interest  took,  we  do  not 
know.     Edward  Fraunces  wrote  of  The  Jealous  Lovers: 

i«  Randolph,  Worlcs,  II,  582-583. 
IT  Ihid.,  II,  606. 


84  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

"if  by  chance,  through  injurj^  of  time, 
Plautus  and  Terence  and  that  fragrant  thyme 
Of  Attic  wit  should  perish,  we  might  see 
All  those  reviv'd  in  this  one  comedy."" 

In  The  Muses'  Looking-glass  the  moral  value  of  comedy 
is  verj'  fully  set  forth : 

"On  the  stage 
We  set  an  usurer  to  tell  this  age, 
How  ugly  looks  his  soul :  a  prodigal 
Is  taught  by  us,  how  far  from  liberal 
His  folly  bears  him.     Boldly,  I  dare  say. 
There  has  been  more  by  us  in  some  one  play 
Laugh 'd  into  wit  and  virtue,  than  hath  been 
By  twenty  tedious  lectures  drawn  from  sin 
And  foppish  humors:  hence  the  cause  doth  rise. 
Men  are  not  won  by  th'  ears  so  well  as  eyes."^* 

Again,  the  soul  sees  her  face 

In  comedy,  and  has  no  other  glass."  -° 

Comedy  works  "with  shame — 

A  thing  more  powerful  in  a  generous  breast. 
Who  sees  an  eating  parasite  abus'd; 
A  covetous  bawd  laugh 'd  at;  an  ignorant  gull 
Cheated;  a  glorious  soldier  knock 'd  and  baffl'd; 
A  crafty  servant  whipp  'd ;  a  niggard  churl 
Hoarding  up  dicing-moneys  for  liis  son ; 
A  spruce,  fantastic  courtier,  a  mad  roarer, 
A  jealous  tradesman,  an  o'erweening  lady, 
A  corrupt  lawyer — rightly  personated ; 

18  Randolph,  Works,  I,  03. 

^9  Ibid.,  I,  1H;},  The  J/hscs'  LoukingfiUisa,  I,  2. 

20  Ibid.,  I,  185;  The  Muses'  Lookinyylass,  I,  3. 


OTHER  ''SONS  OF  BEN"  85 

But  (if  we  have  a  blush)  will  blush,  and  shame 
As  well  to  act  these  follies  as  to  own  them, ' '  ^^ 

Jonson  himself  nowhere  expresses  more  plainly  or  more 
emphatically  a  belief  in  the  didactic  purpose  of  comedy 
to  expose  and  scourge  follies  and  vices. 

Ward  explains  the  purpose  of  The  Muses'  Looking-glass 
as  the  vindication  of  the  moral  power  of  comedy,--  and 
marks  Randolph's  difference  here  from  Jonson  in  dispen- 
sing entirely  with  action  and  showing  in  a  series  of  dia- 
logues between  abstract  personages  representing  various 
vices  and  virtues,  that  practicable  virtue  is  a  mean  be- 
tween two  extremes.  The  Jealous  Lovers,  The  Muses' 
Looking-glass  and  Hey  for  Honesty,  all  contain  many  al- 
lusions to  abuses  and  knaveries  of  the  time.  In  the  two 
latter  plays,  unjust  and  indifferent  justices,  proud  and 
whimsical  ladies,  zealous  saints  of  Amsterdam,  corrupt 
churchmen,  and  flattering  courtiers,  are  severely  satirized. 
We  hear  again  in  The  Muses'  Looking-glass  of  the  old 
project  to  drain  the  fens,  and  there  also  a  proposal  is  made 
to  found  a  free  school  in  London  to  teach  young  gentlemen 
how  to  drink  and  take  tobacco,  swear,  roar  and  quarrel. 

The  picture  of  the  Puritans  that  we  get  in  The  Muses' 
Looking-glass  is  full  of  humor  and  interest,  and  is  such 
skillful  portraiture  as  Jonson  had  created  models  for  in 
The  Alchemist  and  Bartholomew  Fair.  Bird  and  IMis- 
tress  Flowerdew,  who  serve  the  theater  at  Blackfriars  with 
feathers  and  other  small  wares,  express  their  abhorrence 
of  playhouses ;  Roscius,  the  demonstrator  of  the  action  that 
we  learned  to  look  for  in  Jonson 's  comedies,  joins  them, 
prevails  on  them  to  see  the  play  to  be  given,  and,  as  it 
proceeds,  explains  its  significance.  Of  all  the  later  drama- 
tists who  followed  Jonson 's  lead  in  satirizing  the  Puritans, 

21  Ibid.,  I,  188-189;   The  Muses'  Looking-glass,  I,  4. 

22  Ward   III.,  135. 


86  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

no  other  has  been  so  successful  as  Randolph  here,  and  one 
or  two  passages  are  worth}-  of  quotation: 

Mistress  Flowerdew.  See,  brother,  how  the  wicked  throng 
and  crowd 
To  "Works  of  vanit3'!     Not  a  nook  or  corner 
In  all  this  house  of  sin,  this  cave  of  filthiness. 
This  den  of  spiritual  thieves,  but  it  is  stuff 'd, 
Stuff 'd  and  stuff 'd  full,  as  is  a  cushion, 
With  the  lewd  reprobate. 

Bird.  Sister,  were  there  not  before  inns — 
Yes,  I  will  say  inns,  for  my  zeal  bids  me 
Say  filthy  inns — enough  to  harbor  such 
As  travel  'd  to  destruction  the  broad  way ; 
But  they  will  build  more  and  more — more  shops  of 
Satan  ? 

Mis.  Flo.  Iniquitj-  aboundeth,  though  pure  zeal 

Teach,  preach,  huff,  puff,  and  snuff  at  it;  yet  still 
Still  it  aboundeth.     Had  we  seen  a  church, 
A  new-built  church,  erected  north  and  south. 
It  had  been  something  worth  the  wondering  at. 

Bird.  Good  works  are  done. 

Mis.  Flo.  I  say  no  works  are  good ; 

Good  works  are  merely  popish  and  apocryphal. 

Mis.  Flo.  It  was  a  zealous  prayer 

I  heard  a  brother  make  concerning  playhouses. 

Bird.  For  charity,  Avhat  is't? 

Mis.  Flo.  That  the  Globe, 

Wherein  (quoth  he)  reigns  a  whole  world  of  vioo, 

Had  been  consum'd:  the  Phoenix  burnt  to  ashes: 

The  Fortune  whipp'd  for  a  blind  whore:  Rlackfriars, 

He  wonders  how  it  'seap'd  demolisliing 

I'  th'  time  of  reformation:  lastly,  he  wish'd 

The  Bull  might  cross  the  Thames  to  the  Bear  Garden. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  87 

And  there  be  soundly  baited. 
Bird.  A  good  prayer. 
Miss.  Flo.  Indeed,  it  something  pricks  my  conscience 

I  come  to  sell  'em  pins  and  looking-glasses. 
Bird.  I  have  their  custom  too  for  all  their  feathers: 

'Tis  fit  that  we,  which  are  sincere  professors, 

Should  gain  by  infidels. ' '  ^* 
Again : 

''Mis.  Flo.  What  do  you  next  present? 
Roscius.  The  several  virtues. 
Bird.  I  hope  there  be  no  cardinal  virtues  there! 
Ros.  There  be  not. 
Bird.  Then  I'll  stay.     I  hate  a  virtue 

That  will  be  made  a  cardinal :  cardinal  virtues, 

Next  to  pope-virtues,  are  most  impious. 

Bishop-virtues  are  unwarrantable. 

I  hate  a  virtue  in  a  morrice-dance. 

I  will  allow  of  none  but  deacon-virtues, 

Or  elder  virtues. 
Ros.  These  are  moral  virtues. 
Bird.  Are  they  lay-virtues? 
Ros.  Yes. 
Bi7'd.  Then  they  are  lawful : 

Virtues  in  orders  are  unsanctified. 
Ros.  We  do  present  them  royal,  as  they  are 

In  all  their  state  in  a  full  dance. 
Bird.  What  dance? 

No  wanton  jig,  I  hope ;  no  dance  is  lawful 

But  prinkum-prankum ! 
Mis.  Flo.  Will  virtues  dance? 

0  vile,  absurd,  maypole,  maid-marian  virtue ! "  ^* 

It  is  in  the  characters  with  their  descriptive  names,  al- 

23  Randolph,  Works,  I,  179-182;  The  Muses'  Looking-glass,  I,   1. 
2*  Ibid.,  259-260;   The  Muses'  Looking-glass,  V,  1, 


88  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  CO:\IEDY 

legorical  significance,  and  distinguishing  humors  that  we 
trace  most  surely  the  direct  influence  of  Jonson.  yVsotus 
of  The  Jealous  Lovers  in  name  and  main  characteristics 
owes  much  to  Asotus,  the  citizen's  heir  and  prodigal  of 
Cynthia's  Bevels.  Ballio  persuades  the  Asotus  of  The 
Jealous  Lover's  to  turn  over  his  purse  by  convincing  him 
that  it  indicates  a  lack  of  gentility  to  carrj'  his  own  money, 
in  much  tlie  same  way  that  Amorpluis  inveigles  the  Asotus 
of  the  earlier  play  out  of  his  new  beaver.  Ballio  and 
Amorphus  both  tutor  their  rich,  foolish  and  self-loving 
pupils  in  the  art  of  compliment.  As  Asotus  has  the  hu- 
mor of  spending,  so  his  father  has  the  humor  of  acquiring 
for  the  son  on  whom  he  dotes;  T\Tidarus  and  Techmessa, 
that  of  jealousy;  and  Dipsas,  that  of  scolding.  Edward 
Fraunces  commends  this  comedy  as  a  picture  of  humors: 

"Pander,  gull  and  whore: 
The  doting  father,  shark,  and  many  more 
Thy  scene  doth  represent  unto  the  life. 
Beside  the  character  of  a  curst  wife : 
So  truly  given,  in  so  proper  style. 
As  if  thy  active  soul  had  dwelt  a  while 
In  each  man's  body  and  at  length  had  seen 
How  in  their  humors  they  themselves  demean."  -" 

Ward  considers  The  Mitses'  Looking-glass  "an  inter- 
esting illustration  of  the  effect  exercised  upon  literary-  minds 
of  quick  ap])r('hension  by  the  theories  and  examples  which 
they  found  in  Jonson 's  comedy  of  character,"-"  and  Dr. 
Schelling  finds  here  "especially  the  influence  of  Jonson 's 
later  revulsion  to  the  mctliods  and  ideals  of  tlie  old  mo- 
ralities."-^    The  author  declares  frankly   that   he   brings 

28  Randolph,  Works,  I,  63. 
20  Ward,  III,   134. 
2T  Schellincr.  II.  86. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  89 

"No  plot  at  all,  but  a  mere  011a  Podrida, 
A  medley  of  ill-plac'd  and  worse  penn'd  humors. 
His  desire  was  in  single  scenes  to  show 
How  comedy  presents  each  single  vice 
Ridiculous."  ^^ 

We  get  abstract  and  yet  witty,  original  and  effective  pre- 
sentation of  flattery  and  impertinence,  overweening  con- 
fidence and  foolish  distrust,  vain  ostentation  and  base  pen- 
ury, and  many  other  excesses  of  virtue  that  have  become 
vices. 

In  regard  for  classical  rules  of  construction,  in  moral 
intent,  in  subject  and  quality  of  satire,  and  in  characters 
of  humors,  Randolph's  work  has  likenesses  to  Jonson's. 
Just  how  far  these  are  due  to  Randolph's  ot\ti  classic  bent 
and  academic  study,  and  how  far  to  Jonson's  direct  influ- 
ence, it  is  impossible  definitely  to  decide.  We  can  say, 
however,  that  in  the  follies  and  views  he  satirized  and  the 
humors  he  portrayed,  Randolph  certainly  had  accepted 
the  teaching  of  Jonson. 

Shakerley  Marmion,  having  graduated  from  Oxford  and 
afterwards  tried  his  fortune  as  a  soldier  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, came  to  London  to  make  his  way  as  a  man  of  letters 
and  gained  the  patronage  of  Jonson.  Brome,  Heywood, 
and  Nabbes  were  his  friends  and  ^vrote  verses  for  his  Cupid 
and  Psyche  in  1637.  In  A  Fine  Companicm  there  is  a  pas- 
sage which  seems-  to  refer  to  the  gatherings  at  the  Devil 
Tavern : 

" ^^milia.  Whence  come  you?  from  Apollo? 

Careless.  From  the  heaven 

Of  my  delight,  where  the  boon  Delphic  god 
Drinks  sack,  and  keeps  his  Bacchanalias, 
And  has  his  incense,  and  his  altars  smoking, 

28  Randolph,  Works,  I,  193-194;  The  Muses'  Looking-glass,  I,  4. 


90  JOXSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

And    speaks   in    sparkling    prophecies;    thence    do    I 
come."  *' 

For  the  Jonsonus  Virhius,  ]\rarmion  wrote  verses  "to  the 
sacred  memor}'  of  his  thrice  honored  father,"  declaring 
that  from  Jonson's  light  "myself  have  lately  received  in- 
fluence."'" 

IloUand's  Leaguer,  A  Fine  Companion  and  The  Anti- 
quary were  written  in  the  thirties  and  are  all  comedies  of 
manners  and  humors.  That  ^Maraiion  had  an  ethical  pur- 
pose in  mind  when  he  began  to  write  we  know  from  the  ad- 
dress to  the  reader  before  his  earliest  play,  IloUand's 
Leaguer:  "However  my  muse  has  descended  to  this  subject, 
let  men  esteem  of  her  only  as  a  reprover,  not  an  interpreter 
of  wickedness,"  for  "former  writers  in  their  accurate  dis- 
covery of  vice,  have  mingled  their  precepts  of  wisdom. ^^ 
Philautus  in  this  play  is  sick  of  self-love  and  his  friend  Fi- 
delio  sets  out  in  the  first  act  to  find  "a  means  to  cure  him  of 
his  foil}'."  Here  and  there,  through  all  these  plays  we  find 
that  expository  satire  which  so  many  of  his  successors 
learned  from  Jonson.  In  Holland's  Leaguer  several  char- 
acters rail  against  the  ever-recurring  abuse  of  briber^'; 
projectors  are  once  again  scornfully  satirized  in  accounts 
of  their  impossible  schemes  for  making  money;  and  the 
true  gallant  who  promises  anything,  never  pays,  vows  love 
to  every  fair  lady  he  meets  and  talks  idly  all  the  day  long, 
is  described  at  length.  Again,  in  The  Fine  Companion 
"the  time's  disease  of  compliment"  is  ridiculed,  and  also 
the  vulgar  idea  concerning  a  lady  that  it  is  necessary  for 
her  to  "have  clients  wait  at  her  gates  with  presents  and 
yet  have  their  servile  offices  pass  unregarded,"  "be  as 
proud  as  she  list  and  have  new  ways  to  express  it,"  "ride 

20  ^Ta^Ini(•Il,  Drnmntic  ^Vorks,  138;  .1   Fiue  Companion,  II,  4. 
no  .Toil son,    Works,  III,  515-510. 
81  Miirrnion,    Works,  5. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  91 

up  and  down  in  her  litter  and  have  a  coach  and  four  horses 
to  follow  after,  full  of  gentleman  ushers  and  waiting 
women.  "^^  The  subject  of  watches  to  which  Jonson  him- 
self refers  several  times  comes  up  again  in  The  Antiquary: 

"Petrutio.  And  now  you  talk  of  time,  what  time  of  day  is 

it  by  your  watch? 
Lionell.  I  have  none,  sir. 

Pet.  How,  ne'er  a  watch?     Oh  monstrous!     How  do  you 
consume  your  hours  ?     Ne  'er  a  watch  ?     'Tis  the  great- 
est solecism  in  society  that  e'er  I  heard  of:  ne'er  a 
watch  ? 
Lio.  How  deeply  you  conceive  of  it ! 

Pet.  You  have  not  a  gentleman,  that's  a  true  gentleman, 

without  one;  'tis  the  main  appendix  to  a  plush  lining: 

besides,  it  helps  much  to  discourse;  for,  while  others 

confer   notes   together,   we  confer  our   watches,    and 

spend  good  part  of  the  day  with  talking  of  it. ' '  '^ 

These   examples   show   that   while   Marmion    did    succeed 

in  catching  something  of  Jonson 's  satirical  tone,  he  simply 

rang  the  changes  on  subjects  already  overworked. 

According  to  a  passage  in  The  Antiquary,  Marmion  held 
that  "So  many  men,  so  many  humors."  Now  and  again 
a  particular  person  in  the  comedies  is  pointed  out  as  pos- 
sessing or  as  evidencing  in  some  way  a  characteristic  hu- 
mor, and  many  of  the  characters  are  named  in  accordance 
with  their  chief  quality.  Trimalchio  in  Holland's  Leaguer 
is  "a  humorous  gallant"  and  "a  giant  in  conceit,"  who 
thus  explains  his  name: 

''my  father's  name 
"Was  Malchio,  for  my  three  additions 
Of  valor,  wit  and  humor,  'tis  enlarged 
To  Mr.  Trimalchio."  «* 

32  Marmion,  Dramatic  Works,  130;   A  Fine  Companion,  IT,  2. 
^3  Ibid.,  204;   The  Antiquary,  I,  1. 
s*Ibid.,  28;  Holland's  Leaguer,  II,  1. 


92  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

His  wit  is  such  that 

"it  never  fails  me, 
I  have  it  at  a  certainty :  I  'U  set  it 
To  run  so  many  hours,  and  when  'tis  down, 
I  can  wind  it  up  like  a  watch."  ^' 

He  fights  by  geometrj^ : 

"  I  '11  show  you  in  geometry. 
Two  parallels  can  never  meet :  now  we  two 
Being  parallels,  for  so  we  are,  that  is 
Equal  in  wit  and  valor,  can  never  meet, 
And  if  we  never  meet,  we  shall  ne'er  fight. "^° 

Spruce  in  A  Fine  Companion  is  a  gallant  who  continu- 
ally proffers  but  never  performs  courtesies,  is  a  suitor  to 
every  woman  he  meets  and  keeps  a  bundle  of  blank  love- 
letters  ready  to  have  names  inserted.  Lackwit  of  the  same 
play  harks  back  to  Jonson's  La-Foole  tribe:  "This  is  a 
book  of  heraldry,  forsooth,  and  I  do  find  by  this  book  that 
the  Lackwits  are  a  very  ancient  name,  and  of  large  ex- 
tent, and  come  of  as  good  a  pedigree  as  any  is  in  the  city ; 
besides  they  have  often  matched  themselves  into  very  great 
families,  and  can  quarter  their  arms,  I  will  not  say  with 
lords,  but  with  squires,  knights,  aldermen,  and  the  like, 
and  can  boast  their  descent  to  be  as  generous  as  any  of  the 
La-Fooles  or  the  John  Daws  whatsoever."^'  Captain 
Whibble  is  another  swaggering,  blustering,  swearing  rois- 
terer, called  in  one  place,  "Kastrill."  Petrutio  in  The 
Antiquary  is  a  follower  of  strange  fashions  and  follies, 
who  has  traveled  and  therefore  considers  himself  incom- 
parable for  judgment.  The  Anticpiary.  Voterano,  as  has 
already  been  pointed  out,'"'  is  the  mo.st  novel  of  the  ju'r- 

38  Marmion,  Dramatic   Worlcs,  40;    Holland's   Leaguer,   II,   S. 
'i^  Jhid.,  1)1;   IloUand'a  Leaguer,  V,  4. 
ST  Ibid.,   142;   A   Fi)ir  (\)i)ipaiii()ti,  II,  5. 
38  Ward,  III,  148,  ami  Sclidlin^',  II,  270. 


OTHER  ''SONS  OF  BEN"  93 

sonages  created  by  Marmion  and  a  happy  invention,  though, 
in  the  end  left  with  the  possibilities  of  the  original  concep- 
tion undeveloped  and  unused.  Veterano  has  directed  all 
his  powers  in  one  direction  toward  the  collection  of  old 
manuscripts  and  articles  of  various  kinds  until  at  length 
he  has  become  exceedingly  credulous.  After  drinking 
more  wine  than  usual,  he  believes  that  he  wears  Hanni- 
bal's spectacles,  Julius  Caesar's  hat  and  Pompey's  breeches, 
and  is  gulled  into  purchasing  what  he  supposes  a  De  Re- 
publica  in  Cicero's  own  handwriting  and  a  long  lost  book 
of  mathematics  restored  by  Ptolemy. 

Though  far  from  attaining  his  master's  powers,  it  is 
evident  from  whom  i\Iarmion  took  lessons  in  conceiving 
and  portraying  character.  The  plays  show  a  liking  for 
Latin  phrases  and  classical  allusions  that  may  have  de- 
veloped under  Jonson's  influence.  The  prologue  to  A  Fine 
Companion  consists  of  a  dialogue  between  a  critic  and  the 
author,  such  as  Jonson  frequently  used,  and,  according  to 
"Ward,  borrows  part  of  its  phraseology'  from  Persius.^^ 
The  plots  are  made  up  of  schemes  for  gulling  or  for  purg- 
ing, intrigues  and  tricks,  neither  especially  clever  nor 
original.  Marmion  sought  to  apply  Jonson's  general  the- 
ories in  plot,  character  and  satire,  and,  however  rigid  in 
^interpretation  and  lacking  in  originality  the  results  may 
be,  he  did  not  slavishly  imitate  any  particular  play  or 
plays. 

"William  Cartwright,  according  to  Wood,  was  "the  most 
noted  poet,  orator,  and  philosopher  of  his  time,"  and  "the 
most  florid  and  seraphical  preacher  in  the  university. ' '  *° 
Langbaine  tells  us  that  "the  ablest  judge  of  poetry  at  that 
time,  I  mean  Ben  Jonson,  said  with  some  passion,  ']\Iy  son 
Cartwright  writes  all  like  a  man.'  "  *^     To  the  Jonsonus 

39  Ward,  III,  147. 

40  Wood,  Athen.  Oxon.,  Ill,  69. 
*i  Langbaine.  53. 


94  JONSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Viroius  he  contributed  a  long  elegy,  addressing  Jonson  as 
"Father  of  poets."  The  earliest  publisher  of  his  poeins 
exclaimed  in  admiration  of  this:  "What  had  Ben  said, 
had  he  read  his  own  eternity  in  that  lasting  elegy  given 
him  by  our  author!"*^  Whether,  however,  it  added  much 
to  Jonson 's  fame  is  a  matter  of  great  doubt. 

Cartwright's  one  comedy  of  manners,  The  Ordinary, 
probably  w^ritten  in  1634,  is  a  coarse  and  dull  picture  of 
the  very  lowest  classes  of  London  society  and  centers  about 
a  city  restaurant  of  the  time.  That  he  has  obtained  his 
material  at  second-hand,  the  author  himself  admits  in  the 
prologue : 

"That  web  of  mannere  which  the  stage  requires, 
That  mass  of  humors  which  poetic  fires 
Take  in,  and  boil,  and  purge,  and  trj^,  and  then 
With  sublimated  follies  cheat  those  men 
That  first  did  vent  them,  are  not  yet  his  art ; 

Think,  then,  if  here  you  find  nought  can  delight, 
He  hath  not  yet  seen  vice  enough  to  write. ' '  *' 

It  is  very  evident  that  Ca^t^\Tight  in  this  play  took  as  his 
model  The  Alchemist.  Hearsay  an  intelligencer,  Slieer  a 
discharged  lieutenant,  and  Shape  a  cheater,  three  sharpers, 
in  imitation  of  Subtle,  Face  and  Dol,  form  a  confederacy 
to  give  mutual  assistance.  They  choose  an  ordinary  as 
their  base  of  operations  and  here  draw  within  their  net 
various  victims,  among  others  a  gamester  Caster,  who  comes 
like  Dapper  to  learn  how  to  win  imfailingly  at  cards  and 
dice,  and  Have-at-all,  who  like  Kastrill  would  know  how  to 
prove  always  valiant  and  victorious  in  a  fight.  In  per- 
sonages, situations  and  dialogues,  tlio  j^lny  is  closely  remi- 
niscent of  Jonson. 

«2  Langbaine,  SS. 

*»  Dodalcy's  Old  I'laya,  .-d.  by  llazlitt,  XII,  209. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  95 

The  quarrel  of  Slicer,  Hearsay  and  Shape  with  "Widow 
Potluck  in  the  first  act  seems  to  have  been  suggested  by  the 
violent  dispute  of  Subtle,  Face  and  Dol  at  the  beginning 
of  The  Alchemist.  The  way  in  which  the  gang  draws  its 
victims  and  slyly  dupes  them  out  of  their  money  is  in  di- 
rect imitation  of  the  methods  portrayed  by  Jonson.  Take 
as  illustration  this  passage: 

' '  Caster.  Do  you  think 

I  will  betray  myself  or  you,  whom  I 
Esteem  above  myself?  I  have  as  yet 
One  hundred  left,  some  part  of  which — 

Shape.  Faith,  sir. 

These  lines  require  advice;  if  it  should  come 
Unto  the  council's  ear  once,  he  might  be 
Sent  into  other  kingdoms  to  win  up 
Money  for  the  relief  o'  tli'  state,  and  so 
Be  as  it  were  an  honest  kind  of  exile. 

Cast.  If  I  do  e'er  discover,  may  I  want 
Money  to  pay  my  ordinary' :  may  I 
At  my  last  stake  (when  there  is  nothing  else 
To  lose  the  game)  throw  ames-ace  thrice  together! 
I'll  give  you  forty  pound  in  hand — 

Hearsay.  I  may 

Show  you  the  virtue  oft,  though  not  the  thing: 
I  love  my  country  very  well.     Your  high 
And  low  men  are  but  trifles;  your  pois'd  dye, 
That's  ballasted  with  quicksilver  or  gold, 
Is  gross  to  this — 

Shape.  Proffer  him  more,  I  say. 

Cas.  Here's  fifty — 

Hear.  For  the  bristle  dye,  it  is 

Not  worth  that  hand  that  guides  it:  toys  fit  only 
For  clerks  to  win  poor  costermongers '  ware  with. 

Shape.  You  do  not  come  on  well. 


96  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Gas.  Here's  threescore — 

Hear.  Then 

Your   hollowed  thumb   join'd   with  your  wriggled 

box — 
The  slur  and  such  like  are  not  to  be  talked  of; 
They  're  open  to  the  eye.     For  cards,  you  may 
AVithout  the  help  of  any  secret  word 
Or  a  false  hand,  without  the  cut  or  shuffle, 
Or  the  pack  'd  trick,  have  what  you  will  yourself ; 
There's  none  to  contradict  you. 

Cas.  If  you  please 

But  to  instruct  me,  here  is  fourscore  pound. 

Hear.  Do  you  think  'tis  money  I  esteem?     I  can 
Command  each  term  by  art  as  much  as  will 
Furnish  a  navy.     Had  you  but  five  pound 
Left  you  in  all  the  world,  I'd  undertake 
Within  one  fortnight  you  should  see  five  thousand. 
Not  that  I  covet  any  of  your  dross. 
But  that  the  power  of  this  art  may  be 
More  demonstrably  evident,  leave  in 
My  hands  all  but  some  smaller  sum  to  set. 
Something  to  stake  at  first. 

Shape.  He'll  tell  you  all, 

If  you  but  seem  to  trust  him. 

Cas.  Here  I'll  lay 

Down  in  your  hands  all  but  this  little  portion, 
Which  I  reserve  for  a  foundation. 

Hear.  Being  y'are  confident  of  me,  and  I 

Presume  your  lips  are  sealed  up  to  silence, 
Take  that,  which  I  did  never  yet  discover: 
So  help  you  fortune,  me  philosophy."** 

Compare  this  with  the  following  from  I'he  Alchemist: 

**  Subtle.  Marry,  to  be  so  importunate  for  one 
That,  when  he  has  it,  will  undo  you  all : 

4*Dodsley's  OhI  Phiyif,  XII,  243-24C;  The  Onlinarii,  II,  3. 


OTHER  ''SONS  OF  BEN"  97 

He  '11  win  up  all  the  money  in  the  town. 
Face.  How! 
Siib.  Yes,  and  blow  up  gamester  after  gamester 

As  they  do  crackers  in  a  puppet-play. 

Face.  Do  you  think  that  I  dare  move  him? 
Dapper.  If  you  please,  sir; 

All 's  one  to  him,  I  see. 
Face.  What !  for  that  money  ? 

I  cannot  with  my  conscience ;  nor  should  you 

Make  the  request,  methinks. 
Dap.  No,  sir,  I  mean 

To  add  consideration. 
Face.  Why  then,  sir, 

I  '11  try.     Say  that  it  were  for  all  games,  doctor  ? 
Sub.  I  say  then,  not  a  mouth  shall  eat  for  him 

At  any  ordinary,  but  on  the  score, 

That  is  a  gaming  mouth,  conceive  me. 
Face.  Indeed! 
8ub.  He'll  draw  you  all  the  treasure  of  the  realm 

If  it  be  set  him. 

Face.  Go  to.     Go  thank  the  doctor:  he's  your  friend, 

To  take  it  so. 
Dap.  I  thank  his  lordship. 
Face.  So!    Another  angel. 
Dap.  Must  I  ? 
Face.  Must  you !  'slight, 

What  else  is  thanks  ?    Will  you  be  trivial  ? "  *^ 

Caster's  dream  of  what  he  will  do  with  all  the  wealth 
that  is  to  be  his  is  based  upon  Sir  Epicure  Mammon's 
ecstasies  of  joy  as  he  anticipates  the  possession  of  untold 
riches.     Caster  exclaims : 

*5  Jonson,  Works  II,  12-14;  The  Alchemist,  I,  1. 


98  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

' '  First,  will  I  beggar  all  the  gentlemen 
That  do  keep  terms ;  then  build  vrith  what  I  win. 
Next  I'll  undo  all  gaming  citizens, 
And  purchase  upon  that.     The  foreman  shall 
Want  of  his  wonted  opportunities; 
Old  Thomas  shall  keep  home,  I  warrant  him. 
I  will  ascend  to  the  groom-porters  next, 
Fly  higher  games,  and  make  my  mincing  knights 
Walk  musing  in  their  knotty  freeze  abroad; 
For  they  shall  have  no  home.     There  shall  not  be 
That  pleasure  but  I  '11  balk :  I  '11  run  o  'er  nature ; 
And  when  I  've  ransacked  her,  I  '11  weary  art : 
My  means,  I  'm  sure,  will  reach  it. 

I'll  send  some  forty  thousand  unto  Paul's; 
Build  a  cathedral  next  in  Banbury ; 
Give  organs  to  each  parish  in  the  kingdom ; 
And  so  root  out  th'  unmusical  elect. 
I  '11  pay  all  soldiers  whom  their  captains  won 't ; 
Raise  a  new  hospital  for  those  maim'd  people 
That  have  been  hurt  in  gaming:  then  build  up 
All  colleges  that  ruin  hath  demolish 'd, 
Or  interruption  left  imperfect. ' '  " 

Compare  with  this  especially  the  following: 

"Mammon,  No,  I  assure  you, 
I  shall  employ  it  all  in  pious  uses, 
Founding  of  colleges  and  grammar  schools, 
Marrying  young  virgins,  building  hospitals. 
And  now  and  then  a  church."  " 

The  rogues,  when  alone,  exult  over  the  success  of  their 
schemes,  glorying  not  only  in  the  money  they  have  gained 

"Dodsley'fl  Old  Plays,  XII,  247-248;   The  Ordinary,  II,  3. 
♦TjotiHon,   Works,  II,  25;   The  Alchemist,  II,   1. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  99 

but  almost  as  much  in  the  fun  they  have  had  out  of  their 
tricks.  They  talk  over  what  they  have  accomplished  and 
repeat  to  one  another  with  keen  sense  of  humor  the  foolish 
utterances  of  their  unsuspecting  ^dctims.  All  this  is 
plainly  reminiscent  of  The  Alchemist  and  perhaps  also  of 
Volpone.  All  the  sharpers  at  the  end  of  the  play  escape 
by  their  cleverness  the  punishment  they  deserve.  We  are 
forced  to  admire  their  skill  and  judge  them  by  an  intel- 
lectual standard  rather  than  a  strictly  moral  one.  Here 
again  the  influence  of  The  Alchemist  is  clearly  manifested. 
Ward  suggests  that  the  basis  of  the  military  dinner  de- 
scribed in  great  detail,  Act  II,  Scene  1,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
cook's  speech  in  Jonson's  masque,  Neptune's  Triumph.*^ 
Cartwright  refers  slightingly  to  the  Puritans  a  number 
of  times  in  The  Ordinary  and  shows  that  he  has  been  im- 
pressed by  Jonson's  satire  against  them.  We  find  this  bit 
of  doggerel  in  the  play : 

"My  name's  not  Tribulation,  ^ 

Nor  holy  Ananias : 
I  was  baptized  in  fashion, 
Our  vicar  did  hold  bias. ' '  *® 

The  mercer's  speech,  liberally  interspersed  with  "brother," 
"verily,"  and  "truly,"  is  intended  as  satire  against 
the  cant  of  the  Puritans.  In  the  final  scene.  Shape, 
Slicer  and  Hearsay  go  off  to  New  England : 

" Slicer.  There  is  no  longer  tarrying  here:  let's  swear 

Fidelity  to  one  another,  and 

So  resolve  for  New  England. 
Hearsay.   'Tis  but  getting 

A  little  pigeon-hole  reformed  ruff — 
Slicer.  Forcing  our  beards  into  the  orthodox  bent — 

<8  Ward,  III,  1402. 

*9Dodsley's  Old  Plays,  XII,  280:   The  Ordinary,  IV,  1. 


100  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Shape.  Nosing  a  little  treason  'gainst  the  King, 
Bark  sometliing  at  the  bishops,  and  we  shall 
Be  easily  received. 

Hear.  No  fitter  place. 

They  are  good  silly  people;  souls  that  will 
Be  cheated  without  trouble.     One  eye  is 
Put  out  with  zeal,  th '  other  wdth  ignorance ; 
And  yet  they  think  they're  eagles. 

Shape.  We  are  made 

Just  fit  for  that  meridian.     No  good  work's 
Allowed  there :  faith — faith  is  what  they  call  for, 
And  we  will  bring  it  'em. 

Slicer.  Wliat  language  speak  they? 

Hear.  English,  and  now  and  then  a  root  or  two 

Of  Hebrew,  which  we'll  learn  of  some  Dutch  skipper 
That  goes  along  with  us  this  voyage. "°° 

Cartwright  has  imitated  Jonson  more  closely  than  any 
of  the  followers  previously  studied.  The  confused  coarse 
picture  we  get  in  The  Ordinanj  but  sen'cs  to  throw  into 
stronger  relief  the  \dgor  and  power  of  The  Alchemist. 

Jasper  Mayne  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Cartwright,  and 
like  him  was  a  divine,  a  royalist,  a  contributor  to  the  Jon- 
sonus  Virhius,  and  the  writer  of  one  comedy  in  Jonson 's 
manner.  His  translation  of  Lucian's  Dialogues,  1638,  is 
dedicated  to  Jonson 's  friend  and  patron,  the  Earl  of  New- 
castle. The  City  Match,  1639,  is  as  close  an  imitation  of 
The  Silent  Woman  as  The  Ordinanj  is  of  The  Alchemist. 
The  address  to  the  reader  declares  that  tlie  author  did  not 
court  fame  from  the  stage,  and  published  his  play  only 
by  way  of  self-protection  that  it  might  not  in  a  false  copy 
"appear  to  the  world  with  more  than  its  own  faults."  His 
aim  was  to  present  notliing 

BoDmlBlov's  Old  I'lauK,  XII.  ."nCi.'tlT;    The  Ordiiiaru.  V,  5. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN""  101 

*'But  what  was  first  a  comedy  i'  th'  street: 
Cheapside  brought  into  verse;  no  passage  strange 
To  any  here  that  hath  been  at  th'  Exchange. "^^ 

And  the  play  is  full  of  allusions  to  well-known  places  and 
localities  in  London  such  as  the  Temple,  the  Exchange,  the 
Strand,  Fleet  Street,  the  Mermaid,  St.  Paul's  or  Westmin- 
ster Hall. 

Warehouse,  the  miserly  uncle,  corresponds  to  IMorose 
in  The  Silent  Woman;  Frank  Plotwell  is  another  clever 
Dauphine ;  Bright  and  Newcut  are  slight  copies  of  Tniewit 
and  Clerimont;  BannsT^Tight  fills  the  office  of  Cutbeard 
in  obtaining  a  wife  for  the  old  uncle  who  is  to  be  duped; 
and  the  "philosophical  madams"  are  later  representatives 
of  the  * '  ladies  collegiate. ' '  Warehouse,  utterly  out  of  con- 
ceit of  his  wild  and  extravagant  nephew,  resolves  to  marry 
and  disinherit  the  scapegrace.  To  prevent  the  marriage, 
the  same  sort  of  device  used  in  The  Silent  Woman  is  re- 
sorted to,  but  modified  in  that  he  is  married  by  a  mock 
priest  to  a  girl  already  wedded  to  the  nephew.  The  speech 
in  which  Warehouse  asserts  his  determination  to  marry 
immediately  is  modeled  after  that  of  Morose  when  he  has 
decided  to  take  a  like  step.  There  are  similar  threats, 
similar  plans,  and  similar  chuckles  of  delight  over  the  an- 
ticipated confusion  of  the  disappointed  nephew.  After 
marriage,  there  is  a  like  sudden  transformation  of  the  wife 
from  a  quiet  timid  girl  to  a  loud-voiced  dictatorial  shrew. 
Situations  and  dialogue  afford  here  close  parallels.  Ware- 
house, like  Morose,  is  driven  to  the  thought  of  suicide. 
Plotwell  assures  speedy  relief  to  the  harassed  uncle  in 
return  for  a  promise  of  reward,  ■«*ritten,  signed  and  sealed, 
in  imitation  again  of  Dauphine 's  procedure.  The  entire 
second  half  of  the  play  is  patterned  throughout  after  Jon- 
son's  great  comedy. 

siDodsley's  Old  Plays,  XIII,  319;    Epilogue  to  The  City  Match. 


102  JOXSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

JIany  of  the  minor  imitations  in  descriptions,  jokes  and 
allusions  have  already  been  pointed  out  by  r^Iiss  Henry  in 
her  edition  of  Epicmne^-  Take,  for  instance,  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  widow  in  The  City  Match: 

"some  old  widow,  which  at  every  cough 
Resigns  some  of  her  teeth,  and  every  night 
Puts  off  her  leg  as  duly  as  French  hood, 
Scarce  wears  her  own  nose,  hath  no  eyes  but  such 
As  she  first  bought  in  Bread  Street,  and  every  morning, 
Is  put  together  like  some  instrument. ' ' '' 

Compare  this  with  Tom  Otter's  description  of  his  wife: 
"All  her  teeth  were  made  in  the  Blackfriars,  both  her 
eyebrows  in  the  Strand,  and  her  hair  in  Silver  Street. 
Ever\'  part  of  the  to^\Ti  o\ms  a  piece  of  her.  .  .  .  She 
takes  herself  asunder  still  when  she  goes  to  bed,  into  some 
twenty  boxes;  and  about  next  day  noon  is  put  together 
again,  like  a  great  German  Clock."'*  Anything  but  at- 
tractive these  descriptions  certainly  are,  but  they  sen-e  to 
show  how  minutely  Mayne  again  and  again  followed 
Jonson.  ]\riss  Henry  refers  the  account  of  monstrosities 
in  The  City  Match,  Act  III,  Sc.  1  to  Epiccetic,  Act  II, 
Sc.  1,  but  the  latter  is  simply  a  reference  to  "masques, 
plays,  Puritan  preachings,  mad  folks,  and  other  strange 
sights."  There  seems  to  be  a  more  direct  parallel  here 
with  The  Alchemist,  Act  V,  Sc.  I,  where  there  is  a  like 
enumeration  of  particular  strange  sights. 

Mayne  does  not  forget  to  take  his  turn  at  satirizing  the 
Puritans.  The  requirements  for  becoming  one  of  them  arc 
defined  as  the  ability  to  turn  up  the  eyes,  "speak  in  the 
nose,  draw  sighs  of  an  ell  long,  and  rail  at  discipline." 
Dorcas,   who   in  the   progress  of  the  plot  is   married   to 

82  Yale  Studies  in  English,  XXXI,  100(1;  Intrcihu-tion.  LVII- 
LVIII. 

"Dodsley's  Old  Plays,  XIII.  237;  The  City  Match,  II,   \. 
»«  Jonson,  Works,  I,  438;   The  Silent   Woman,  IV.  1. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  103 

Warehouse,  assumes  for  dis^ise  the  dress,  speech  and 
manner  of  a  Puritan,  and  then  serves  as  a  lady's  maid. 
Her  mistress  complains  of  her: 

* '  I  am  never  dress  'd 
Without  a  sermon ;  but  am  fore  'd  to  prove 
The  lawfulness  of  curling-irons,  before 
She  '11  crisp  me  in  a  morning.     I  must  show 
Texts  for  the  fashions  of  my  gowns.     She'll  ask 
Where  jewels  are  commanded?  or  what  lady 
I '  th '  primitive  times  wore  ropes  of  pearl  or  rubies  ? "  ^^ 

Two  satirical  references  are  made  to  "the  new  heresy,  Pla- 
tonic love."  The  ridicule  with  which  the  popular  eager- 
ness to  see  abnormal  and  unusual  objects  is  portrayed  has 
already  been  mentioned.  Two  scenes  are  devoted  to  the  ex- 
hibition by  a  crowd  of  wits  of  a  simple  gull  as  a  man-fish. 

The  City  Match  is  a  clever  and  interesting  imitation  of 
The  Silent  Woman,  and  Mayne  is  here  largely  indebted  to 
Jonson  for  plot,  characters  and  satire. 

In  Henry  Glapthorne  for  the  first  time  in  this  study  we 
come  to  a  man  between  whom  and  Jonson  there  is  no  evi- 
dence of  any  direct  personal  relation.  We  do  not  know 
that  Jonson  ever  called  him  ' '  Son, ' '  or  even  received  from 
him  complimentary  verses.  The  testimony  of  his  plays 
must  then  be  wholly  depended  upon  to  justify  the  assign- 
ment to  him  of  a  place  in  the  present  group  of  writers. 
Beyond  the  fact  that  like  Marmion,  Cartwright  and  ]\Iayne 
he  devotedly  supported  the  royal  cause,  practically  nothing 
is  known  of  his  life.  He  wrote  several  tragedies  and  tragi- 
comedies, following  the  manner  of  Fletcher  and  Shirley; 
but  the  plays  with  which  we  are  chiefly  concerned  here  are 
two  comedies  of  manners,  The  Hollander  and  Wit  in  a  Con- 
stable, both  belonging  to  the  thirties,  one  acted  in  1635  and 
the  other  in  1639.     The  Ladies'  Privilege,  an  heroic  play, 

35Dodsley's  Old  Plays,  XIII,  226;  The  City  Match,  II,  2. 


104  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

1640,  contains  also  several  characters  conceived  on  the 
basis  of  humors. 

We  find  here  not  the  same  direct  imitation  of  particular 
plays,  characters  and  passages  that  appeared  in  the  com- 
edies of  Cartwright  and  ]\Iayne,  but  such  more  general  in- 
fluence on  plot,  personage  and  satire  as  characterized  the 
work  of  IMarmion.  The  same  ever  recurring  fads,  follies 
and  abuses  are  satirized;  the  same  old  kinds  of  triclcs  and 
schemes  are  affected;  the  same  familiar  types  of  character 
are  presented. 

In  Tlie  Hollander  the  group  of  roarers  call  themselves 
the  "Twibill  Knights";  the  rules  of  the  order  are  set  forth 
at  length ;  and  the  initiation  of  a  foolish  coxcomb  into  the 
brotherhood  is  satirically  portrayed.  Reference  is  scorn- 
fully made  in  both  The  Hollander  and  The  Ladies'  Privi- 
lege to  the  "precise  precisians."  The  Hollander  and  Wit 
in  a  Constable  return  to  the  overworked  subject  of  monopo- 
lies, and  both  refer  slightingly  to  the  Puritans.  The 
make-up  of  the  woman  of  fashion  is  ndieuled  in  The  Hol- 
lander, and  the  abuse  of  fees  and  bribes  deplored  in  the 
same  play.  Both  subject  and  manner  of  satire  are  such 
as  we  have  already  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  in 
Jonson's  imitators. 

The  Hollander  and  Wit  in  a  Constable  both  have  their 
scenes  laid  in  Loudon,  and  botli  present  coarse  pictures  of 
the  life  of  the  city  with  many  allusions  to  well-known 
places.  The  plots  have  the  usual  network  of  trickery  and 
roguery.  In  The  Hollander,  a  doctor  and  his  wife  set  out 
to  gull  all  who  come  within  their  range,  and  after  various 
intrigues,  projects  and  counter-projects,  are  themselves 
gulled  in  the  marriage  of  their  daugliter  contrary  to  all 
their  j)lans.  Wit  in  a  Constable  atl'ords  one  or  two  new 
situations  and  the  plot  is  developed  cleverly  and  interest- 
ingly. Jcroniy  IToldfa.st.  who  has  been  assuming  sehiv 
hustic  tastes  and  seeking  "to  be  esteemed  by  his  volumes," 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  105 

is  persuaded  by  Thorowgood  to  turn  city  gallant.  Thorow- 
good  himself  then  approaches  the  uncle  of  the  girl  intended 
for  Holdfast,  and  by  his  learned  vocabulary  and  pedantic 
cant  deceives  that  admirer  of  those  who  "speak  learnedly" 
"metaphors  and  tropes  scholastic." 

The  principal  character  of  humors  in  The  Hollander  is 
Sconce  the  Hollander,  another  member  of  the  La-Foole 
tribe.  "My  name,"  he  says,  "is  Sconce,  sir,  Master 
Jeremy  Sconce.  I  am  a  gentleman  of  a  good  family,  and 
can  derive  my  pedigree  from  Duke  Alva's  time;  my  an- 
cestors kept  the  inquisition  out  of  Amsterdam. "  ^^  He  is 
duped  to  believe  in  a  "weapon  salve"  which,  when  applied 
to  the  iron  or  steel  that  has  produced  a  wound,  will  heal 
immediately  an  injury  however  great.  There  is  a  likeness 
here  to  a  Jonsonian  character  in  Shirley's  The  Young  Ad- 
miral— Pazzarello,  who  was  led  to  believe  that  he  had  been 
made  invulnerable.  In  the  satirical  drawing  of  Sconce,  we 
see  a  hatred  of  the  Dutch,  manifested  in  a  number  of  plaj'^s 
written  about  the  same  time  as  The  Hollander.  The  hu- 
mor of  Alderman  Covet  in  Wit  in  a  Constable  is  a  foolish 
admiration  for  pedantrj-;  and  that  of  Busy,  a  pride  in  his 
own  wit.  The  charge  which  the  constable  gives  to  his  men, 
as  has  been  frequently  noted,  is  plainly  an  imitation  of  that 
delivered  by  Dogberry  in  Much  Ado  About  Nothing. 
Other  characters  of  humor  are  Jeremy  Holdfast  in  his  rapid 
transfiguration  from  a  pretended  pedant  to  a  gay  gallant ; 
and  Sir  Timothy  Shallowit,  who  has  come  up  from  the 
country  to  change  his  "ancient  garment  to  a  new  one  of  a 
more  spruce  edition"  and  whose  unvarjdng  phrase  of  as- 
sent is  "very  right."  Frangipan  of  The  Ladies'  Privi- 
lege always  brings  news  already  known  and  "relates  things 
by  tradition  as  dogs  bark ' ' ;  Corimba,  a  woman  of  the  court, 
goes  about  provided  with  material  to  cut  at  a  moment's 
notice  for  any  one's  face  a  patch  in  the  shape  of  a  heart; 

56  Glanthorne   Dramatic  Works    I    85;   The  Hollander.  I,   1. 


106  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

and  Adorni  has  a  humor  for  imitating  whatever  humors 
in  other  men  appear  to  him  laughable  and  ridiculous. 

Such  are  the  satire,  plots  and  humorous  characters  of 
Glapthome's  comedies.  We  have  come  a  long  way  from 
Jonson's  vigorous  characters,  skillfully  executed  plots  and 
trenchant  satire,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  line  of 
descent. 

Thomas  Nabbes  again  was  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  a  mem- 
ber of  court  circles,  and  a  loyal  friend  of  the  Stuarts. 
Like  other  play-writers  of  this  group,  he  tried  his  hand  at 
several  kinds  of  drama,  classical  tragedy,  masque,  and  com- 
edy of  ever\"-da.y  life.  Three  such  comedies,  written  in  the 
thirties,  entitle  him  to  a  place  here.  Complimentary  verses 
^ve  testimony  of  his  friendship  with  Shakerley  ^larmion 
and  Richard  Brome,  and  while  there  is  no  direct  evidence 
of  association,  yet  he  surely  must  have  known  Jonson. 
There  is  a  reference  to  Jonson  in  Tottenham  Court  where 
one  of  the  characters  cries  out:  "Give  me  Jonson  and 
Shakespeare;  there's  learning  for  a  gentleman.'"' 

In  the  prologue  to  Covcnt  Gardsn  Nabbes  lays  claim  to 
originality  and  declares  that  he  offers 

"no  borrow 'd  strain 
From  the  invention  of  another's  brain;""*' 

and  Langbaine  supports  this  claim:  "what  our  author  has 
published  is  his  own  and  not  Iwrrowed  from  othoi-s. """ 
Nabbes  does  have  individuality  of  his  own,  and  his  freedom 
from  coarseness,  fn-st-hand  observation  of  life,  naturalness 
of  character  and  dialogue,  bring  a  welcome  relief  from  the 
plays  of  the  three  or  four  preceding  wTiters.  BuUcn  com- 
ments on  Nabbes'  "virtuous  and  refined  gentlemen"  and 
"modest,  well-conducted  girls,  devoted  to  their  lovers  and 

BT  Bullon's  Old  Plays,  Netc  Scrim,  T,  13^;  Tottenham  Court,  TIT,  1. 

18  Ibid.,  I,  5. 

•n  Fjangbninp,  .170. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  107 

courageous  in  the  face  of  difficulties, ' '  ^°  and  they  fully  de- 
serv'e  the  commendation  given  them.  To  assert  that  Nabbes 
was  influenced  by  Shirley  and  Jonson  does  not  involve  the 
denial  of  his  possession  of  originality.  Bullen  gives  him 
his  "place  at  the  feet  of  Shirley  on  the  lower  slopes  of 
Parnassus,"  for  "he  has  much  of  Shirley's  fluency  and  re- 
finement."®^ A  study  of  the  three  comedies,  Covent  Gar- 
den, Tottenham  Court  and  The  Bride  proves  also  the  pres- 
ence of  Jonson 's  influence. 

Directly  or  indirectly  the  construction  of  these  plays 
points  back  to  Jonson.  There  is  comparative  regularity, 
and  the  action  takes  place  within  a  few  hours  in  London 
and  its  environs.  The  epilogue  to  Covent  Garden  declares 
this  a  play 

"wherein  was  no  disguise, 

No  wedding,  no  improbable  devise ; 

But  all  an  easy  matter,  and  contain 'd 

Within  the  time  of  action. ' '  ®- 

The  plots  include  "projects"  to  "gull"  and  intrigues  of 
various  kinds,  some  of  them  clever  and  inventive.  Covent 
Garden,  Tottenham  Court  and  The  Bride  all  portray  every- 
day London  life  and  contain  many  allusions  to  such  well- 
known  places  as  ]\Iiddlesex,  Tyburn,  Ludgate  or  Bridewell, 
and  interesting  descriptions  of  contemporary  customs. 
Here  is  some  information  from  Covent  Garden  about  the 
methods  of  strolling  players : 

"Dohson.  But  tell  me,  Ralph,  are  those  players  the  ragged 
fellows  that  were  at  our  house  last  Christmas,  that 
borrowed  the  red  blanket  off  my  bed  to  make  their 
mayor  a  gown;  and  had  the  great  pot-lid  for  Guy  of 
Warwick's  buckler? 

80  Bullen,  I,  XIV. 
61  Ibid.,  I,  XX. 
ezlbid.,  I,  91. 


108  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

Ralph.  No,  Dobson,  they  are  men  of  credit,  whose  actions 
are  beheld  by  every  one,  and  allow 'd  for  the  most  part 
with  commendations.  They  make  no  yearly  progress 
with  the  anatomy  of  a  sumpter-horse,  laden  with  the 
sweepings  of  Long-Lane  in  a  dead  vacation  and  pur- 
chased at  the  exchange  of  their  own  whole  wardrobes. 
They  buy  not  their  ordinary  for  the  copy  of  a  prologue, 
nor  insinuate  themselves  into  the  acquaintance  of  an 
admiring  ningle,  who  for  his  free  coming  in  is  at  the 
expense  of  a  tavern  supper,  and  rinses  their  bawling 
throats  -^^-ith  Canary."  *^ 

Nabbes  is  not  wholly  free  from  didactic  purpose.  In  the 
dedication  of  Tottenham  Court  he  censures  the  vulgar  "who 
please  their  senses  oftener  with  show  than  their  intellects 
with  the  true  moral  end  of  plays,  instruction."**  Several 
times  he  expressly  points  out  that  he  is  whipping  vice  and 
folly  with  "satire,"  and  scattered  through  all  three  plays 
are  well-written  moral  observations  and  maxims  on  right 
means  to  an  end,  temperance,  good  judgment,  avoidance 
of  scandal,  honesty  and  like  subjects.  Sir  Generous 
Worthy  in  Covent  Garden  is  "purged"  of  his  "humor"  of 
jealousy  as  are  other  characters  of  their  corresponding 
follies.  We  find  no  new  objects  of  satire,  but  the  familiar 
ridicule  of  projectors,  bribe-takers,  fashionable  courtiers 
and  superficial  gentlemen,  roarers,  and  Puritans. 

The  theory  of  humors  is  applied  most  fully  in  the  char- 
acters of  Covent  Garden.  Dungworth  desires  to  sell  his 
acres,  buy  a  knighthood  and  turn  gallant;  Susan,  a  wait- 
ing-woman, is  greatly  addicted  to  sack  which  never  fails 
to  produce  in  her  a  "loving  humor,"  so  that  she  courts 
every  man  slip  moots;  Warrant  and  Spruce,  "Knight  <if  the 
Inkhom"  and  "Knight  of  the  Spanish  Needle,"  boastfully 

11  liullen'a  OH  Plays,  New  Serios,  I.  9;   Corctit  Ganfrn,  T,  1. 
0*  Jbid.,  I,  95. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  109 

challenge  each  other  to  a  duel  but  prove  complete  cowards ; 
Littleword,  true  to  his  name,  stands  speechless  before  the 
lady  he  would  win ;  and  Mistress  Tongall,  the  gossip,  has  an 
unlimited  supply  of  words  and  offers  to  every  man  on  every 
possible  occasion  her  daughter  Jinny  as  a  reward  of  any 
courtesy  or  service  whatsoever.  Nabbes  seems  to  have  re- 
alized the  artificiality  of  such  a  method  of  constructing 
character  even  while  he  made  use  of  it,  and  caused  IMistress 
Tongall  to  say  of  some  one  who  is  watching  her :  ' '  'Tis  his 
practice  of  observation.  He  is  taking  a  humor  for  a  play ; 
perhaps  my  talking  of  my  daughter  Jinny. ' '  ^^ 

The  chief  humorous  character  of  Tottenham  Court  is  the 
fantastic  gallant,  Changelove,  "the  Proteus  of  affection" 
with  "as  many  shapes  of  love  as  there  are  objects."  In 
The  Bride  we  find  a  group  of  roarers;  an  antiquary  ab- 
sorbed in  his  collection  of  rarities  and  antiquities;  Plaster, 
"the  learned  surgeon  that  speaks  nothing  but  Latin,  be- 
cause either  he  would  not  be  understood  or  not  contra- 
dicted"; and  Mrs.  Ferret,  a  rarely  obedient  wife  to  the 
public  ear  and  eye,  but  in  private  a  shrew  of  shrews  and 
complete  master  of  her  husband.  She  changes  her  tone 
with  amazing  rapidity  when  she  addresses  him  in  asides: 

^'Ooodlove.  Mr.  Justice  Ferret, 

This  was  a  large  expression  of  your  love 
To  come  over  the  water. 

Ferret.   'Twas  my  wife's  desire. 

Good.  Kind  Mistress  Ferret! 

M.  Fer.  Sir,  the  respects  I  bear  you,  and  the  obedience  I 
owe  my  husband  that  commanded  it,  brought  me  over 
willingly  to  offer  my  service  to  so  noble  a  friend. 

Good.  Your  courtesies  overcome  me. 

M.  Fer.  — A  rot  on  the  best  linings  of  your  three  pil'd 
durable,    your    everlasting    almanac    of    high    days, 

66  Bullen's  Old  Plays,  New  Series,  I,  71;   Covent  Garden,  IV,  6. 


110  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

feasts  and  sessions;  was  it  my  desire?  Thou  liest, 
thou  wrong  side  of  a  lawyer  turn'd  outwards:  I  had 
better  business  at  home.  I  could  have  seen  if  ^lother 
Whirl  had  spun  the  last  pound  of  flax  I  sent  her,  or 
called  at  Knock's  the  weaver's  for  my  new  napkins. 
I  have  no  maids  to  cudgel  their  tasks  out  of.  Indeed 
I  can  hardly  keep  any  for  such  a  goat  as  thou  art. 

Good.  Are  you  offended  with  your  husband,  Mrs.  Ferret? 

M.  Per.  Obedience  forbid  it ;  my  head,  or  if  I  may  use  the 
honorable  phrase  here  without  offense,  my  cap  of  main- 
tenance. 

Fer.  No,  no,  sir ;  she  was  but  excusing  a  few  faults. 

M.  Fer.  — IIow,  sir  bubber,  must  the  world  take  notice 
by  you  that  I  have  faults  or  modesty  to  excuse 
them?"°° 

Bullen  characterizes  Mrs.  Ferret  as  ' '  quite  a  Jonsonian  fig- 
ure recalling  the  immortal  ]\Irs.  Otter.  "°^ 

Nabbes  was  no  slavish  imitator,  but  in  construction,  real- 
istic portrayal  of  contemporary  life,  moral  satire,  and  char- 
acters of  humors,  his  comedies  show  clearly  results  of  Jon- 
son's  general  influence. 

Sir  Aston  Cockayne  seems  to  have  felt  the  influence  of 
Jonson  as  diffused  in  the  dramatic  atmosphere  of  tlie  time 
rather  than  to  have  consciously  studied  and  accepted  his 
theories  in  any  such  way  as  did  "Sons"  like  Randolph, 
]Mannion,  Cartwright,  Mayne  or  the  Duke  of  Newcastle. 
Cockayne  was  a  gentleman,  educated  in  both  universities, 
much  traveled  abroad,  and  extensively  connected  with  the 
gcntiy  and  nobility  of  his  time.  Wood  says  of  iiim  that 
"he  was  esteemed  by  many  an  ingeuiou.s  gentleman,  a  good 
poet  and  a  great  lover  of  learning,  yet  by  others  a  perfect 
boon  fellow,  by  which  means  he  wasted  all  ho  had."*"     lie 

«8  Billion's  Old  Plays,  II.   I5-IG;   The  Bride,  1,  4. 

«7  Ibid.,  I,  XVII. 

«8\Vood,  Athcn.  Oxon.,  IV,  129. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  111 

knew  intimately  many  contemporary  poets  and  dramatists, 
and  had  seen  Jonson.  He  writes  of  "ray  good  friend  old 
Philip  Massinger, "  ^^  and  tells  us  elsewhere  that  "Donne, 
Suckling,  Randolph,  Drayton,  Massinger,  Jonson,  Chap- 
man, and  Holland  I  have  seen. ' '  '^^  There  is  a  general  ref- 
erence to  Jonson  in  the  prologue  to  The  Obstinate  Lady: 

"for  if  y'  are  come  to-day 
In  expectation  of  a  faultless  play 
Writ  by  learn 'd  Jonson,  or  some  able  pen 
Fam'd  and  approv'd  of  by  the  world,  you  then 
We  disappoint. '  "^ 

Cockayne  wrote  some  short  poems,  a  masque,  a  transla- 
tion of  an  Italian  romance,  a  tragedy,  a  tragi-comedy,  and 
a  comedy.  The  Ohstinate  Lady,  dating  1638  ''^  or  1639,  as 
has  been  noticed  by  several  critics,  owes  its  greatest  debt  in 
plot  and  incident  to  Massinger,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.'^ 
In  the  characters  alone  are  to  be  found  traces  of  Jonson 's 
influence.  The  "humor"  of  Lucora,  the  obstinate  lady,  is 
a  resolve  never  to  marrj^;  Phyginois  is  ever  ready  to  utter 
a  speech  of  meaningless  eloquence,  "a  wordy  nothing" ;  and 
Lorece,  a  fantastic  gallant,  is  the  "poetical  servant"  of  a 
rich  widow.  The  similarity  of  Lorece 's  account  of  his 
travels.  Act  II,  Scene  1,  to  a  narrative  of  imaginary  experi- 
ences by  Freshwater,  a  Jonsonian  character,  in  Shirley's 
Ball,  has  been  pointed  out.^*  In  the  tragi-comedy,  Tra- 
polin,  there  are  many  references  to  the  "humor"  of  the 
good-natured,  fun-loving  buffoon  who  gives  title  to  the  play 
and  is  through  magic  made  to  look  like  the  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

69Eng.  Stud.,  XIV,   56. 

'0  Randolph's  Works,  I,  XII. 

71  Cockayne,  Dramatic  Works,  21. 

72  Fleay  dates  1G31,  but  Schelling,  1638  or  1639,  on  account  of 
reference  to  Brome's  Antipodes  of  1638. 

T3  Cockayne's  Dramatic  Works,  18-19. 
74  Schelling,  II,  282. 


112  JONSOX  AND  EXGLISH  CO:\IEDY 

All  these  are  characters  of  hunioi*s,  sketched  and  outlined, 
though  not  carefully  nor  fully  developed. 

It  is  not  as  a  dramatist  that  William  Cavendish,  Duke 
of  Newcastle,  is  usually  rememl^ered,  but  as  a  loyal  ad- 
herent of  the  Stuart  kings  in  the  Civil  AVar  and  as  a  munifi- 
cent patron  of  contemporary  men  of  letters.  lie  was  also 
a  great  lover  and  master  of  the  "art  of  manage"  and  vrrote 
two  celebrated  treatises  on  horsemanship.  "No  person 
since  the  time  of  Augustus,"  says  Langbaine,  "better  un- 
derstood dramatic  poetry  nor  more  generously  encouraged 
poets;  so  that  we  may  truly  call  him  our  English  ]\Iae- 
cenas.""  Shirley,  Davenant,  Dryden,  Shadwell,  Flecknoe 
and  Congreve,  all  received  favors  from  him;  but  to  none 
does  he  seem  to  have  performed  more  fully  and  heartily 
the  office  of  friend  and  patron  than  to  Jonson.  This  poet 
wrote  verses  in  praise  of  the  Duke's  riding  and  fencing, 
epitaphs  for  various  members  of  the  family,  an  interlude 
for  the  christening  of  his  son  Charles,  and  two  masques. 
Love's  Welcome  at  Wetbeck  and  Love's  Welcome  at 
Bolsover,  for  entertainments  given  by  him  to  the  King  and 
Queen.  The  Duchess  in  her  Letters  reports  that  her  hus- 
band said  he  had  "never  heard  anyone  read  well  but  Jon- 
son."^" Two  references  to  the  Devil  Tavern  are  made  in 
The  Countrij  Captain  and  perhaps  the  Duke  sometimes 
joined  there  the  group  of  comrade-wits  gathered  about  Jon- 
son. 

A  number  of  lettere  from  Jonson  to  the  Duke  testify  to 
the  admiration  and  gratitude  witli  wliit-h  he  regarded  his 
generous  benefactor.  Tlie  foUowiiig,  written  about  1628, 
when  he  was  sutlV'ring  from  poverty  and  sickness,  makes  an 
appeal  for  assistance : 

"My  noblest  Lord  and  best  Patron, 

I  send  no  borrowing  epistle  to  provolce  your  lordship,  for 

7B  Langbaine,  38(5. 

li  Letters,  quoted  by  Wurd,  II,  321'. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  113 

I  have  neither  fortune  to  repay,  nor  security  to  engage, 
that  will  be  taken;  but  I  make  a  most  humble  petition  to 
your  lordship's  bounty  to  succor  my  present  necessities 
this  good  time  of  Easter,  and  it  shall  conclude  all  begging 
requests  hereafter  on  the  behalf  of  your  truest  beadsman 
and  most  thankful  serv^ant,  B.  J."  '' 

Another  letter  was  written  in  response  to  the  Duke's  re- 
quest for  a  copy  of  some  complimentary  verses  addressed 
to  Jonson  by  admirers: 
"My  noblest  Lord  and  my  Patron  by  excellence, 

I  have  here  obeyed  your  commands  and  sent  you  a  packet 
of  my  own  praises,  which  I  should  not  have  done  if  I  had 
any  stock  of  modesty  in  store: — but  "obedience  is  better 
than  sacrifice," — and  you  command  it.  I  am  now  like  an 
old  bankrupt  in  wit,  that  am  driven  to  pay  debts  on  my 
friends'  credit;  and  for  want  of  satisfying  letters  to  sub- 
scribe bills  of  exchange. 

Your  devoted 
4th  Feb.  1632.  Ben  Jonson.  "^^ 

Later,  Jonson  sent  him,  for  reading  and  criticism,  part 
of  a  book  now  lost,  and  began  the  accompanying  letter 
thus: 

"My  Lord, 

The  faith  of  a  fast  friend  with  the  duties  of  an  humble 
servant,  and  the  hearty  prayers  of  a  religious  beadsman, 
are  kindled  upon  this  altar  to  your  honor,  my  honorable 
lady,  your  hopeful  issue,  and  your  right  noble  brother, 
be  ever  my  sacrifice."  ^^  The  following  is  part  of  a  letter 
that  probably  accompanied  Love's  Welcome  at  Welbeck: 

"My  noble  Lord  and  my  best  Patron, 

I  have  done  the  business  your  lordship  trusted  me  with ; 
77Jonson's  Works,  ed.  by  Cunningliam,  I,  p.  CXXXIV. 

T8  Hid.,  I,  cxxxv. 

T8  Ibid.,  1,  p.  CXXXVIII. 


114  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

and  the  morning  after  I  received  by  my  beloved  friend, 
Master  Payne,  your  lordship's  timely  gratuity — I  style  it 
such,  for  it  fell  like  the  dew  of  heaven  on  my  necessities — 
I  pray  to  God  my  work  may  have  deserved  it;  I  meant  it 
should  in  the  working  it,  and  I  have  hope  the  performance 
will  conclude  it.  In  the  meantime,  I  tell  your  lordship 
what  I  seriously  think — God  sends  you  these  chargeable 
and  magnificent  honors  of  making  feasts,  to  mix  with  your 
charitable  succors,  dropt  upon  me  j'our  servant;  who  have 
nothing  to  claim  of  merit  but  a  cheerful  undertaking  what- 
soever your  lordship  thinks  me  able  to  perform. ' '  ^^ 

Not  only  did  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  turn  to  Jonson  for 
the  composition  of  masques  to  be  used  in  entertainments  to 
the  King  and  Queen,  but,  when  for  his  own  amusement  he 
tried  his  hand  at  writing  plays,  he  sought  guidance  and  di- 
rection from  the  same  source.  Langbaine  gives  his  testi- 
mony that  the  Duke  "had  a  more  particular  kindness  for 
that  great  master  of  dramatic  poesy,  the  excellent  Jonson ; 
and  'twas  from  him  that  he  attained  to  a  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  what  was  to  be  accounted  true  humor  in  com- 
edy."*^ Richard  Brome  wrote  in  some  verses  "To  my 
Lord  of  Newcastle  on  his  play  called  The  Variety,  he  hav- 
ing commanded  to  give  him  my  true  opinion  of  it,"  as  fol- 
lows : 

"I  would  depose  each  scene  appear 'd  to  me 
An  act  of  wit,  each  act  a  conu'dy. 
And  all  was  such,  to  all  tliat  understood. 
As  knowing  Jonson,  swore  by  God   'twas  good."'* 

Of  direct  references  to  Jonson 's  work  within  Newcastle's 
plays,  there  is  but  one,  a  passing  allusion  to  The  Alchemist 
in  The  Country  Captain. 

Four  comedies  are  ascribed  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle: 

80  Jonson,  Works,  I,  CXX.XIX. 

81  Lungbuiiio,  tiiHi. 

82  Brome,  ^^ork8,  II,   179. 


OTHER  "SONS  OF  BEN"  115 

The  Country  Captain,  The  Variety,  The  Humorous  Lovers 
and  The  Triumphant  Widow.  The  latter  two  have  not 
been  available  for  the  present  study,  and  furthermore,  were 
acted  after  the  Restoration.  The  former  were  printed  to- 
gether in  1649,  but  acted  at  Blackfriars  in  1639  or  1640.*^ 
In  the  plot  of  The  Country  Captain  may  be  traced  remi- 
niscences of  Shirley  rather  than  of  Jonson,  and  we  are  con- 
stantly reminded  of  situations  and  devices  in  The  Witty 
Fair  One,  The  Wedding,  Hyde  Park  and  The  Lady  of 
Pleasure.  Not  only  in  the  plot  but  also  in  the  class  of  so- 
ciety portrayed,  the  dialogue,  the  quality  of  the  humor, 
and  the  style  of  certain  passages,  the  influence  of  Shirley 
is  manifest.  Wood  has  told  us  that  this  dramatist  assisted 
the  Duke  in  the  composition  of  certain  plays.^*  Indeed, 
The  Country  Captain  was  for  a  time  ascribed  to  Shirley, 
but  has  been  proved  to  belong  unquestionably  to  Newcastle. 
The  Variety,  on  the  other  hand,  bears  no  marks  of  Shirley's 
influence.  AVard  thinks  it  the  better  play,  but  in  the  pres- 
ent writer's  judgment  it  is  not  nearly  so  interesting  nor 
so  well-constructed.  I\Iadame  Voluble 's  school  of  fashion, 
with  lectures  on  dress  and  manners,  is  another  imitation  of 
"Wittipol's  discourses  in  The  Devil  is  an  Ass.  The  group 
of  humorists  gathered  about  Lady  Beaufield,  a  "lady  of 
spirit  and  entertainment,  the  only  magnetic  widow 
i'  th'  town,"  ^^  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  group  cen- 
tered around  Lady  Loadstone  in  The  Magnetic  Lady. 

The  Duchess  says  of  her  husband 's  purpose  in  these  plays 
that  "his  chief  design  in  them  is  to  divulge  and  laugh  at 
the  follies  of  mankind;  to  persecute  vice  and  to  encourage 
virtue."  ^®  In  The  Country  Captain  the  author  shows  folly 
as  folly  and  vice'as  vice  with  sane  and  true  moral  sense; 
two  of  the  principal  characters  at  the  end  of  the  play  de- 
es Fleay,  I,  48. 

84  Wood,  Athen.  Oxon.,  Ill,  739. 
S3  Newcastle,  The  Variety,  1649,  p.  2;  I,  1. 
8QLi/e,  ed.  by  C.  H.  Firth,  1886,  pp.  201-202. 


116  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

clare  themselves  "cured"  of  wrongful  purposes,  and  minor 
personages  as  a  result  of  their  folly  and  stupidity  are  thor- 
oughly "gulled";  yet  the  fundamental  intent  does  not 
seem  to  be  essentially  didactic  any  more  than  in  Shirley's 
comedies.  The  Variety,  in  plot  and  general  tone,  is  more 
frankly  satirical  and  more  rigidly  punishes  each  character 
according  to  his  deserts.  Jeering,  news-collecting,  slavish 
following  of  fashions,  indiscriminate  knighting,  and  super- 
ficial assuming  of  a  humor  are  warmly  ridiculed.  A  bit  of 
sixteenth  century  satire  on  "learned  women"  deserves  to 
be  quoted: 

"Neionan. — But  these  ladies  are  very  tedioiLS;  we  must 
have  this  lecture  put  down. 

Sir  William.  They  are  more  like  to  purchase  Gresham  Col- 
lege, and  enlarge  it  for  public  professors.  You  may 
live  to  see  another  university  built,  and  only  women 
commence  doctors. ' '  ^^ 

But  it  was  chiefly  in  the  construction  of  his  characters 
that  Newcastle  followed  the  lead  of  Jonson.  In  The  Coun- 
try Captain  another  representative  of  the  Matthew  type  is 
found  in  JNIonsieur  Device,  who  is  "an  English  monsieur 
made  up  by  a  Scotch  tailor  that  was  prentice  in  France," 
and  a  master  of  compliment  who  drosses  himself  out  in  col- 
ored ribbons  to  express  the  varying  states  of  hopes  and  feai*s 
in  his  affections,  and  above  all,  composes  wonders  in  verse. 
Underwit,  an  interesting  variation  of  Stephen  in  Every  Mati 
in  His  Humor,  has  been  made  captain  of  the  traiu-band,  so 
feels  it  "honorable"  to  forget  his  best  friends,  refuses  to 
answer  to  "nuister, "  and  ordei's  his  servant  to  go  birding 
each  morning  about  the  house  and  slioot  pigeons  that  he 
may  get  used  to  the  noise  of  shot.  Captain  Saekbury  is 
again  an  imitation  of  Bobadil,  a  lover  of  siick,  "tliat  wears 

87  Newcastle,  The  Varuly,  1049,  p.  20;  II,  1. 


OTHER  ''SONS  OF  BEN"  117 

no  money  in  his  scarlet  hose,  and  when  he  is  drunk  is  in- 
flicted with  counsel."  He  undertakes  to  teach  Underwit 
wars  and  fortifications,  and  having  beaten  his  pupil  after 
too  liberal  a  portion  of  sack,  requires  that  foolish  youth  to 
ask  his  pardon  for  the  beating.  Engine,  who  proposes  to 
make  a  patron  rich  by  a  monopoly  of  periwigs,  recalls  the 
projector  Meercraft  and  his  assistant  Engine  in  The  Devil 
is  an  Ass. 

The  idea  of  humors  is  prominent  throughout  The  Variety. 
The  author  by  frequent  use  of  the  word  insists  that  we  shall 
not  fail  to  realize  that  humors  are  being  portrayed. 
Manly,  with  his  fancy  for  wearing  the  habit  of  Leicester 
and  singing  old  songs,  illustrates  the  humor  that  is  super- 
ficial or  temporarily  assumed:  Simpleton's  one  great  de- 
sire is  to  be  a  gentleman;  Sir  William  is  in  pursuit  of  a 
wealthy  wife;  Galliard  considers  it  the  most  important 
thing  in  the  world  to  be  able  to  bow  properly  and  dance 
gracefully;  Formall  has  a  capacity  for  news-gathering 
that  would  entitle  him  to  a  place  in  Jonson's  Staple  of 
News,  and  like  Sir  Politick  Would-be  in  Volpone  is  ac- 
quainted with  secrets  of  court  and  state  which  he  imparts 
confidentially  to  any  willing  listener ;  Lady  Beaufield  wishes 
above  all  else  to  know  the  latest  fashions;  the  Jeers,  Major 
and  Minor,  have  the  method  of  jeering  reduced  to  a  system 
and  hold  it  a  certain  means  of  accomplishing  any  undertak- 
ing. 

In  several  familiar  situations,  in  the  use  of  moral  satire, 
but  chiefly  in  the  characters  of  humors,  do  we  find  proofs 
that  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  in  writing  his  comedies  ac- 
cepted the  teaching  of  Jonson. 

With  Sir  William  Davenant  we  end  our  study  of  "Sons 
of  Ben"  in  English  comedy  before  the  Restoration.  He 
forms  a  connecting  link  between  the  drama  before  the  clos- 
ing of  the  theaters  in  1642  and  after  the  return  of  Charles 
II,  and  is  chiefly  known  for  his  part  in  the  development  of 


118  JONSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

the  Restoration  heroic  play  out  of  the  Fletcherian  tragi- 
comedy. However,  Davenant's  method  was  eclectic,  and 
while  he  was  decidedly  a  follower  of  the  romantic  school, 
yet,  like  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Shirley  and  Massinger, 
he  did  not  disdain  to  learn  somewhat  from  Jonson,  and  to 
apply  the  theory  of  humors  in  one  or  two  plays.  He  be- 
gan his  dramatic  career  in  1629,  the  year  that  Jonson  bit- 
terly realized  in  the  failure  of  The  New  Inn  that  he  had  lost 
his  hold  on  the  stage.  There  remains  no  evidence  of  direct 
personal  relation  between  the  two  poets.  Sixteen  months 
after  the  death  of  Jonson,  in  1638,  Davenant  was  appointed 
as  his  successor  in  the  poet-laureateship,  and  this  ollfice  he 
held  under  both  Charles  I  and  Charles  II.  Thomas  Peck 
in  an  epigram  to  Davenant  joins  his  name  with  that  of  Jon- 
son: 

"That  Ben,  whose  head  deserved  the  Roscian  bays. 
Was  the  first  gave  the  name  of  works  to  plays : 
You,  his  corival,  in  this  waspish  age, 
Are  more  than  Atlas  to  the  fainting  stage. "  '" 

On  his  grave,  in  imitation  of  the  famous  epitaph  to  Ben 
Jonson,  was  A\Titten,  "0  rare  Sir  "William  Davenant!" 

Some  slight  influence  of  the  Jonsonian  satire  may  be  de- 
tected in  Davenant's  work.  The  Wits  and  News  from 
Plymouth,  both  dating  from  the  first  half  of  the  thirties, 
contain  bits  of  expository  satire  against  wit.s,  news-gather- 
ers, takers  of  bribas,  Puritans,  silenced  ministers  and  aca- 
demics. In  The  Wits  there  is  brought  about  a  "conver- 
sion" of  the  Elder  Palatine  and  Sir  ^Morglay  Tiiwack.  two 
country  gentlemen  who  have  foolishly  leased  out  all  their 
lands  and  rents  for  pious  uses  and  have  come  to  town  to  live 
by  their  wits.  Tltc  I'latonic  Lovers,  1636,  aims  througliout 
to  ridicule  the  fashionable  court  fajicy  of  the  time,  Platonic 
love. 

It  is  in   the   characters  of   The    Wits  and   News  from 

""British  Bibliographer,  II,  312. 


OTHER  ''SONS  OF  BEN"  119 

Plymouth  that  we  find  surest  evidence  of  Jonson's  influence. 
Palatine  the  Elder  and  Sir  Morglay  Thwack  of  the  former 
play  have  unbounded  confidence  in  their  own  wit  and  their 
ability  to  live  by  it;  Sir  Tyrant  Thrift  is  governed  wholly 
by  avarice;  Snore,  the  constable,  puts  to  sleep  his  sense 
of  justice  under  the  persuasive  influence  of  money  and 
wine.  More  Jonsonian  are  Sir  Solomon  Trifle,  Sir  Furious 
Inland,  and  Lady  Loveright  of  News  from  Plymouth. 
Lady  Loveright  "s  ' '  humor ' '  is  for  a  husband  without  money 
or  learning.  Sir  Furious  Inland  has  a  most  belligerent 
"humor,"  is  ''subject  to  the  disease  of  quarreling"  "and 
ready  always  to  beat  any  one  with  or  without  provocation." 
Sir  Solomon  Trifle  recalls  Justice  Clack  of  Brome's  A  Jo- 
vial Crew: 

"He's  a  Justice  of  Peace, 
And  in  his  country,  custos  rotulorum; 
He  can  give  a  charge  to  the  jury  at  Quarter-Sessions, 
And  tell  aforehand  what  will  be  their  answer; 
To  all  his  fellow  justices  he  speaks  gravely, 
And  will  hear  none  but  himself. ' '  ^^ 

"The  perpetu,al  motion  is  in  his  tongue,"  and  he  does  not 
hesitate  to  interrupt  all  speakers  with  "give  me  leave" 
or  ' '  this  you  would  say ' '  and  to  set  forth  at  length  what  he 
considers  himself  better  able  to  express.  By  means  of  his 
group  of  intelligencers,  Scarecrow,  Zeal  and  Prattle,  he 
sets  up  a  staple  of  news,  gathers  and  distributes  "news  of 
all  sorts  and  sizes"  and  can  furnish  complete  information 
about  "the  designs  of  Europe." 

Perhaps  Davenant  was  unconscious  of  being  in  any  sense 
a  follower  of  Jonson,  so  thoroughly  had  the  satiric  tone  and 
the  conception  of  character  on  the  basis  of  humors,  intro- 
duced in  Every  31  an  in  His  Humor,  become  accepted 
phases  of  later  dramatic  method. 

89  Davenant,  Dramatic  Works,  IV,  118;  News  from  Plymouth, 
1,  2. 


CHAPTER  V 

CONCLUSION 

The  preceding  studies  convince  lis  of  the  extent  and  im- 
portance of  Ben  Jonson's  influence  in  the  historj'  of  Eng- 
lish drama.  Few  writers  of  comedy  between  1598  and  1642 
remained  wholly  unaffected  by  his  striking  plays  as  pro- 
duced on  the  stage,  and  his  dramatic  theories  so  forcefully 
preached  on  every  possible  occasion.  Mr.  Fleay  in  the  in- 
troduction to  his  Chronicle  of  the  English  Drama  bears  the 
following  testimony  to  Jonson  's  position  and  power :  "  I  can- 
not pass  over  in  silence  one  point  which  has  been  impressed 
on  me  at  every  step  in  this  long  labor — the  central  impor- 
tance of  Ben  Jonson  ...  I  have  .  .  .  studied 
Jonson  deeply,  and  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say  that,  al- 
though Shakespeare  is  the  central  figure  in  our  dramatic 
literature.  Jonson  certainly  is  the  central  figure  in  our 
dramatic  historj\ ' '  ^ 

In  comedj',  Jonson's  immediate  contempfraries  were  in- 
fluenced chiefly  by  his  theorv'  of  humors  and  his  ideal  of 
constructive  excellence.  Chapman,  Marston,  Shakespeare. 
Beaumont,  Fletcher,  Massinger,  Shirley,  and  one  or  two 
anonymous  writers,  all  made  some  trial  of  humors  in  crea- 
ting character,  ■with  success  varying  from  the  mere  sketches 
of  humorous  personages  in  ^Mareton's  comedies  or  in  thi' 
anonymous  Every  Woman  in  Her  Humor  to  Shakespeare's 
IMalvolio  and  the  group  of  liumori.sts  centering  about  Fnl- 
staff.  Shakespeare,  however,  was  affected  only  suportl- 
cially,  for  he  divined  at  once  that  such  a  method  might 
serve  occasionally  as  foil  for  truer  art,  b\it  wa.s,  in  no  wise, 

>  I'leav.   Chronicle  of   the  Liujlish  Dtatiui,   1,   13. 

120 


CONCLUSION  121 

to  be  universally  applied.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Mas- 
singer  and  Shirley,  owe  not  a  little  of  their  power  in  con- 
ducting skillfully  involved  plots  and  in  gaining  unity  of 
impression  to  Jonson's  precept  and  example  concerning 
logical  construction.  Whether  by  parallel  development  or 
direct  influence,  Chapman  and  Marston  stand  in  close 
relation  to  Jonson,  not  only  in  their  characters  and  plots, 
but  also  in  scholarship,  conscious  effort,  satire  and  reflective 
wisdom.  Beaumont,  Massinger  and  Shirley  owe  something 
to  him  in  their  satirical  pictures  of  contemporary''  life. 
Beaumont's  regular  versification  and  some  of  Shirley's 
prologues  also  point  back  to  him.  However,  all  these 
writers  cared  too  much  for  the  favor  of  the  public  to  adopt 
to  any  great  extent  Jonson's  attitude  of  independence  and 
arrogance;  they  were  too  keenly  alive  to  the  essential  re- 
quirement that  drama  shall  present  character  in  action, 
to  make  frequent  use  of  his  expository  method;  and  they 
well  knew  that  the  aim  of  a  play  should  not  be  primarily 
ethical.  They  were  great  enough  as  playwrights  to  seize 
and  put  to  their  own  uses  with  original  power  Jonson's 
most  valuable  discoveries  in  character  and  construction. 

"While  the  immediate  contemporaries  were  professional 
playv\^rights  and  rival  comrades,  most  of  the  later  "Sons" 
were  gentlemen,  graduates  of  the  university,  members  of 
the  court  circle,  and  acknowledged  disciples.  While  the 
former  for  the  most  part  accepted  only  a  general  influence 
from  Jonson's  best  characteristics,  the  latter  sought  to  fol- 
low him  more  closely  and  less  wisely,  often  even  in  his 
faults  of  pedantry,  caricature  and  didacticism.  Among  the 
' '  Sons, ' '  Brome  must  be  given  the  foremost  place  by  reason 
of  his  large  number  of  comedies,  and  his  conscientious, 
often  by  no  means  unsuccessful  effort  to  conform  to  all  the 
rules  of  Jonsonian  art.  The  other  "Sons,"  according  to 
the  manner  and  extent  of  the  influence  felt,  fall  into  a  num- 
ber of  groups.    May  and  Randolph  were  themselves  faith- 


122  JOXSOX  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

fill  students  of  the  classics,  and  so  their  moral  purpose, 
satire,  plots  of  intrigue  and  characters  of  humors  are  prob- 
ably in  part  due  to  their  own  direct  study  and  in  part  to 
their  admiration  for  Jonson.  Field,  ^Nlarraion,  Glapthome, 
and  Nabbes,  all  show  the  effects  of  a  general  Jonsonian  in- 
fluence on  their  plots,  personages  and  subjects  of  satire,  in 
contrast  with  Cartwright  and  ^laj-ne,  who  slavishly  imitate 
particular  Jonsonian  plots,  characters  and  satirical  pas- 
sages. Among  these  writers,  Field  and  Nabbes  stand  out 
above  the  others,  Field  because  of  his  practical  skill  in 
stagecraft  and  keen  satirical  pictures  of  London  life,  and 
Nabbes  because  of  his  pleasing  style,  refreshing  freedom 
from  coarseness  and  first-hand  touch  with  real  life.  New- 
castle turned  to  Jonson  for  much  suggestion  in  the  way  of 
situation,  satire,  and  character,  but  did  not,  like  Cart- 
wright,  go  so  far  as  to  copy  directly  a  particular  play. 
Davenport,  Cockayne  and  Davenant,  in  plays  otherwise 
free  from  Jonson 's  influence,  apply  the  theory  of  humors 
in  characterization. 

Every  A\Titer  who  gained  anything  from  Jonson  was  af- 
fected first  and  foremost  by  the  idea  of  humors.  The  crea- 
tion of  new  humorous  types  we  have  found  in  the  plays  of 
such  men  of  genius  as  Shakespeare,  Fletcher.  Heaumont  or 
Shirley,  and  even  in  those  of  Brome ;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
in  the  work  of  le.sser  men,  there  is  an  unending  repetition  of 
certain  definite  types  patterned  after  Ji)nsun's  pei'sonages. 
Stephen,  the  country  gull ;  Matthew,  the  foolish  versifier ; 
Bol)adil,  tlie  braggart  soldier;  Fastidious  Brisk,  tlie  fash- 
ionable gallant ;  Sir  Amorous  La-Fooh\  proud  of  his  an- 
cestry of  fools ;  Mrs.  Otter,  the  shrew ;  Kastrill,  the  quarrel- 
some boy;  ]\Ieercraft  and  Engine,  the  projectors;  Fitzdot- 
terel,  a  prey  to  sharpens;  Tribulation  WhoU'.some.  Ananias, 
and  Zeal-of-the-Land  liusy,  the  hypiuTitiial  Puritan  fa- 
natics; Sir  T*()liti('k  Would-l)e,  doali^r  in  sensational  news: 
— these  recur  in  play  after  phiy  and  writer  after  writer. 


CONCLUSION  123 

sometimes  with  enlivening  variation,  but  often  with  weari- 
some sameness. 

While  Beaumont,  Massinger  and  Shiriey  were  incited 
by  Jonson's  ethical  aim  to  a  deeper  moral  earnestness  and 
an  effective  satirical  portrayal  of  actual  contemporary  life, 
such  writers  as  ]\Iarmion,  Glapthorne,  Cartwright  and 
Mayne,  failing  to  catch  the  true  underlying  spirit  of  Jon- 
son's morality,  painted  dull  coarse  pictures  of  the  lowest 
stratum  of  London  society,  with  the  constantly  repeated 
assertion  that  the  purpose  was  to  scourge  vice.  Certain 
subjects  of  satire,  emphasized  by  Jonson,  particularly  the 
cant  and  hypocrisy  of  the  Puritans,  the  meannesses  and 
crimes  of  avarice,  the  foolish  fads  of  Ladies  Collegiate, 
the  projects  of  sharpers,  the  credulity  of  news-gatherers, 
and  a  slavish  pursuit  of  the  fashions  of  the  day,  are  used  by 
one  after  another  of  the  "Sons"  until  it  seems  as  if  these 
follies  and  abuses  should  have  been  forever  whipped  out  of 
English  life. 

Jonson  taught  contemporaries  and  disciples  the  value  of 
careful  workmanship,  regard  within  certain  limits  for  the 
dramatic  unities,  and  that  artistic  logic  which  creates  each 
part  with  conscious  reference  to  the  whole.  The  greater 
writers  seized  and  applied  these  principles;  the  lesser  pro- 
ceeded to  copy  or  adopt  particular  situations.  The  fa- 
vorite ones  were:  the  school  of  fashion  introduced  in  The 
Devil  is  an  Ass,  the  grouping  of  irregular  humorists  first 
found  in  Every  Man  in  His  Humor  and  Every  Man  out  of 
His  Humor,  the  transformation  effected  by  marriage  and 
also  the  device  for  making  the  contract  void  set  forth  in 
The  Silent  Woman,  the  scheme  for  systematic  news-gather- 
ing in  The  Staple  of  Neivs.  and  the  confederacy  of  rogues 
in  Vol'pone  and  The  Alchemist. 

The  minor  characteristics  of  Jonson's  comedy  reappear 
now  and  again  in  other  ^^^:•iters.  His  background  of  classi- 
cal  learning,    and   the   classical   allusions   and  quotations 


124  JOXSON  AND  ENGLISH  COMEDY 

wrought  into  the  very  fiber  of  his  plays,  only  such  men  as 
were  themselves  classical  scholars,  Chapman,  ^larston,  or 
Randolph,  could  in  any  sense  approach;  but  his  example 
certainly  increased  the  contemporary^  liking  for  passing 
allusions  to  classical  authors  and  literature.  His  influence 
combined  with  that  of  Middleton  to  teach  local  color  and 
realistic  portrayal  of  everyday  life,  and  in  this  respect  we 
may  be  sure  that  Field  and  Brome,  ^lay  and  Randolph, 
learned  largely  from  Jonson.  Brome  followed  him  in  self- 
conscious  attitude  and  intellectual  appeal;  Chapman  and 
Randolph,  in  the  use  of  a  commentator  on  the  action ;  ]\Iar- 
ston  and  Marmion,  in  their  inductions ;  Shirley  and  Brome, 
in  independent  prologues  and  epilogues  addressed  to  the 
public. 

"Whether  Jonson 's  theories,  when  applied,  resulted  in 
living  plays  or  dull  imitations  depended  largely  on  the  per- 
sonal powers  of  the  writere  applying  them,  and  many  of 
his  followers  were  neither  great  thinkers  nor  gi^eat  poets. 
However,  "the  Sons'  "  besetting  sins  of  pedantry,  didac- 
ticism, abstraction,  allegory,  caricature,  artificiality,  and 
sameness,  were  dangers  inherent  in  his  methods.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  gave  to  English  comedy  greater  variety  of 
character  and  more  effective  portraj'al  of  the  manners  and 
humors  of  men,  more  careful  and  logical  construction,  and 
a  moral  earnestness  that  was  needed  to  counteract  the  in- 
fluence of  Middleton  and  Fletcher. 


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Richard  Brome.     Fortnightly  Review,   LVII,   1892. 

Symonds,  J.   A.:    Ben  Jonson,     London,   1888. 

Richard  Brome.     Academy,  March,  1874. 

Ward,  A.  W. :  A  History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature,  3  vols. 
London  and  New  York,  1899. 

Wilke,  W. :  Anwendung  der  Rhyme-test  \md  Double-endings-iest  auf 
Ben  Jonson's  Dramen.     Anglia,  X. 

Wood,  Anthony:  Athenae  Oxonienses,  ed.  by  Philip  Bliss.  London, 
1813. 

Woodbridge,  Elisabeth:  Studies  in  Jonson's  Comedy,  Yale  Studies 
in  English,  V.     Boston,  New  York  and  London,   1898. 


INDEX 


Admiral's  Men,  20. 

Alchemist,  6,   10,   13,   15,  21,  50, 

66,  70,  85,  94,  114,  123. 
Allegory,  12-13,  40,  88. 
All  Fools,  21. 
All's   Well  That  Ends   Well,  30, 

31,   34. 
Amends  for  Ladies,  54,  55,  56. 
Amyntas,   80. 
Anachronisms,  8. 
Antigone,  77. 

Antipodes,  59,  60,  63.  65,  69,  71. 
Antiquary,  90-92. 
Antonio  and  Mellida,  25. 
Apollo   Club,   3-5,  42. 
Aristippus,  80. 
Aristophanes,    7,   80,    83. 
Authority,  Jonson's  sense  of,  11. 

Ball,  46,  50,   111. 

Bartholomeio  Fair,  13,  15,  57,  66, 

69,    72,   85. 
Beaumont,     Francis,    3,     18,    19, 

36-42,   120,   121. 
Blind  Beggar  of  Alexandria,   19- 

20. 
Bobadil,   40,   116. 
Bride,   107,   109. 
Brome,   Alexander,   59. 
Brome,    Richard,    52,    57-75,    89, 

106,   121. 
Bullen,   A.   H.,   106,    107. 
Bunyan,    13. 
Burbage,   Richard,   53. 

Cambridge  University,  80. 
Carlyle,   Thomas,   7. 
Cartwright,     William,     52,     93- 

100,    122. 
Case  Is  Altered,  30,  Gl. 


Catiline,  37,   38,   53. 

Cavendish,  William,  Earl  of 
Newcastle,  52,  100,  112-117, 
122, 

Censor,   Attitude   of,   6. 

Chapman,  George,  18,  19-24,  120, 
121. 

Characters  of  Jonsonian  Com- 
edy,   11-14. 

Chaucer,    10. 

Children  of  the  Chapel,  52. 

Cicero,    26,    93. 

City   Madam,   43. 

City   Match,   100-103. 

City   Night-Cap,   79. 

City   Wit,  58,   60,   63,  68-70,   72. 

Classicism,  of  Jonson,  7 ;  Chap- 
man, 19;  Marston,  24,  26; 
Randolph,  83. 

Cleopatra,    77. 

Cockayne,  Sir  Aston,  52,  59,  80, 
110-112,    122. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,   15. 

College  Drama,  80. 

Comedy   of   Humors,   20. 

Conceited  Pedlar,  80. 

Congreve,   William,    112. 

Construction  of  plays,  15,  43, 
69,    107. 

Conversations,  25,   27,   53. 

Country  Captain,  112,   115. 

Court  Beggar,  59-60,  63,  65,  70, 
72. 

Covent    Garden,    106,    108. 

Cunningham,   Francis,  25. 

Cynthia's  Revels,  8,  14,  15,  16, 
35,   53,   88. 


Davenant,  Sir  William,  52,  117- 
119,   122. 


129 


130 


INDEX 


Davenport,   Robert,   52,    79,    122. 
Dekker,   Thomas,   59. 
Demoiselle,  62,  60,   72. 
Devil  Is  An  Ass,  44,  49,  65,  70, 

78,    115,    123. 
Devil  Tavern,  3,  45,  59,  76,  80, 

89,  112. 
Didacticism,   63,   79,   85. 
Discoveries,   2. 
Donne,  John,    111. 
Drayton,  INIichael,   30,    111. 
Drummond  of  llawthornden,   20, 

38. 
Dryden,   John,    11,    112. 
Duke's   Mistress,  47. 
Dutch  Courtesan,  24,  27. 
Dyce,   Alexander,   38. 

Eastward  Uoe,  20,  25,  28. 

English   Moor,   59-60. 

Epicoene,    15,    31,    37,    100,    101, 

123. 
Ethical    Aims,    of    Jonson,    5-6, 

10;      Brome,     63;      May,     78; 

Randolph,    85;    Marmion,    90; 

Nabbes,  108. 
Every  man  in  His  Humor,   1,  2, 

19,  20,  21,  29,  31,  73,   110. 
Every   Man   Out   of  His  Humor, 

6,    7,    12,    14,    16,   20,    22,    31, 

35,   48,   73,   123. 
Every    Woman    in    Her    Humor, 

34,    35-36,    120. 
Example,   46. 

Fair  Maid  of   the  Exchange,   34- 

35. 
Faithful   (■Shepherdess,   38. 
Falstafr.    32,    120. 
Fault  in  Friendship,  58. 
Faum,  20,  28. 

Field,   Nathaniel,   52-57,    122. 
Fine   Companion,   89. 
Fleay,   F.   C,   20,   34,  77,    120. 
Flftcher,  John,   10,  19,  30-42,  00, 

77,    120,    121. 


Ford,  John,   59.  • 

Forest,    The,   9. 
Fortune,    The,    55. 
Four  Triumphs,  39. 
Fraunces,  Edward,  83. 
Fuller,   Thomas,   29. 

I 
Gamester,  40. 
Gentleman   Usher,  23. 
Giles,   Nathaniel,    53. 
Glapthorne,   Henry.   52,    103-106, 

122. 
Grateful  Servant,  45. 
Gray's   Inn,   76. 
Gulling,   16,   24. 

( 

IIabin<;ton,   William,   45. 

Hall,   John,    59. 

Heir,  77. 

Henry,   Aurelia,   31,    102. 

Henry  IV,  31. 

Henry    V,   31,   33. 

Henslowe's  Diary,  20. 

Heroic  drama,   118. 

Herrick,   Robert,   4. 

Hey      for      Honesty,      80,      82, 

85. 
lleywood,    Tliomas,    9,    S9. 
lloUnnder,    103,    104,    105. 
Holland's  Leaguer,  90. 
Hope,   The,    52. 
Humors,  11-12,  27,  30-34,  49 

71-73,  79,  88,  91,  108,  111. 

118120,    122. 
Humorous   (^ourtier,   51. 
Humorous    Day's    Mirth,    19, 

21. 
Humorous   Lieutenant,   ,"9  40. 
Humorous  Lovers,  114. 
Hyde  I'ark,  40,   115. 

Inductions,    15-16,   25.    124. 

Jiulvus  Lovers,  80,  85,  8S. 
Jonsonua     Yirbiua,    77,    90,    93, 
100. 


50, 
117, 


-0, 


INDEX 


131 


Jovial  Crew,  59,   69,  71,  73,   75, 

119. 
Julius  Caesar,  80,  85,  88. 

King  and  No  King,  40. 

Knight    of    the    Burning    Pestle, 

39,   40. 
Koeppel,  Emil,  30,  41,  60. 

Ladies   Collegiate,   49,    123. 
Ladies'  Privilege,   103. 
Lady  of  Pleasure,  46,   115. 
Langbaine,   Gerard,   77,   93,    106, 

112,    114. 
Learning  of  Jonson,  8. 
Leges  Convivales,  4-5. 
Lines  to  Shakespeare,  30. 
Little  French  Lawyer,  40. 
Love  in  a  Maze,  51. 
Lovesick  Court,  60,  71,  74. 
Love's  Welcome  at  Bolsover,  112. 
Love's  Welco77ie  at  Welbeck,  112, 

113. 
Love   Tricks,   45,   46,   48, 
Lowell,  J.  R.,  5. 
Lucan,    77. 

Mad  Couple  Well  Matched,  60, 
63. 

Magnetic  Lady,  13,   115. 

Malcontent,    25,    27. 

Malvolio,    33,    120. 

Marmion,  Shakerley,  52,  89-93, 
106,  122. 

Marston,   John,    19,   24-29,    120. 

Martial,  26,   77. 

Massinger,  Philip,  19,  42-44,  60, 
111,   120,   121. 

Masque  of  Augurs,  45. 

Masques,  of  Jonson,  7;  of  Shir- 
ley,  45. 

May  Day,  23. 

May,    Thomas,    52,    76-79,    121. 

Mayne,  Jasper,  52,  100-103,  122. 

Measure  for  Measure,  30. 

Merchant  of  Venice,  31. 


Mercury  Vindicated,   13. 

Mermaid,   The,   3,   29. 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  31,  32. 

Middleton,  Thomas,  30,  42,  46. 

Monsieur  D'Olive,  23,  24. 

Moralities,    12. 

Much  Ado   About    yothing,    105. 

Muses'  Looking-Glass,  SO,  84,  88. 

Nabbes,  Thomas,  52,  89,  106- 
110,    122. 

Nature,  Jonson's  lack  of  feeling 
for,  9-10. 

yeptune's  Triumph,  45,  99. 

New  Academy,  63,  73,  75. 

Newcastle,  Duchess  of,   112,   115. 

Newcastle,  Duke  of.  See  Cav- 
endish,  William. 

Newington  Butts,  55. 

New  Inn,  60,   61,   83. 

News  from  Plymouth,  118. 

New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts,  43. 

New  Trick  to  Cheat  the  Devil, 
79. 

Northern  Lass,  57,  62,  66,  69, 
73. 

Novella,  60,   70. 

Obstinate  Lady,    111. 

Old   Couple,    77-79. 

Ordinary,    94-100. 

Ovid,  26. 

Oxford   University,   80,   89. 

Personality  of  Jonson,  3. 
Pilgrim's  Progress,   13. 
Platonic  love,   103,   118. 
Platonic    Lovers,    118. 
Plautus,  7,  19,  22,  39,  83. 
Plots    of    Jonson's    Comedy,    14- 

15. 
Poetaster,   14,   15,  20,  31,  35. 
Project,    65,    104. 
Puritans,    24,    66,    85,    99,    102, 

104. 

Queen's  Exchange,  60,  62. 


132 


INDEX 


Queen  and  Concubine,  60,  75. 

i 
Randolph,     Thomas,     52,     80-89, 

121. 
Realism,   64,    75, 
Renaissance,   10. 
Restoration,    115,    117,    118. 
Roarers,   66,    104. 
Romance,   9. 

Romantic  School,  36,  44,  77,  118. 
Romeo  and  Juliet,  31. 
Rule  a   ^Vife  and  Have   a  IVi/e, 

39,  41. 

Satire,   7,    12,   27,   40-41,   43,   54, 

116. 
Schelling,  F.  E.,   7,  31,  88. 
School    of   Compliment,   49,    70. 
Scornful  Lady,   39. 
Sejanus,  20,   25,  29. 
Seneca,  26. 

Shadwell,  Thomas,   112. 
Shakespeare,    9,     19,    29-34,    60, 

120. 
Shirley,    James,     19,    44-51,    80, 

107,    112,    115,   120,    121. 
Silent   Woman.     See  Epiccene. 
Hparagus  Garden,  61,  63,  71. 
Htavle   of   News,   9,    13,    14,   47, 

117. 
Suckling,   Sir  John,    111. 
Swift,  Jonathan,  7. 
Swinburne,  Algernon,  5,  21,  70. 
Symonds,  J.  A.,  7,  8. 

Tamer  Tamed,  39. 
Tatham,   John,  59. 
Terence,   7,   19,   22,   39,   83. 
Timber,   30. 
Tottenham  Court,  106,  108. 


Tourneur,  Cyril,  29. 
Triumph  of  Peace,  45. 
"  Triumphant  Widoic,  115. 
Twelfth  Night,  31,  33. 
Types   of   character,    14,   40. 

Underwoods,  The,  20. 
Unities,  of  drama,  11. 

rariety,   114,   116. 

Vergil,   77. 

Versification,    of   Jonson,    16-17; 

Beaumont    and    Fletcher,    41 ; 

Brome,  75. 
Volpone,    6,    10,    13,    14,    15,    20, 

21,  38,  70,  99,   123. 

War  of  the  Theaters,  25. 
Ward,  A.  W.,  22,  00,  71,  73,  88, 

93,   99. 
Watkyns,   Rowland,   81. 
Wedding,  46,  50,    115. 
Weeding   of   Coven t    Garden,   00, 

64,  66,  69,  72,  75. 
What  You  Will,  25,  26,  28. 
Widow's  Tears,  23. 
Wife  of  Bath,  36. 
W  ilk  ins,   G.,    29. 
Wit  in  a  Constable,  103,  105. 
Wit   Without  Money,  40. 
Wits,   118. 

Witty  Fair  One,  46,    115. 
Woman   Hater,  39. 
Woman    Is    a    Weathercock,    53, 

54,  55,  56. 
Woild  in  the  Moon,  71. 
Wood,  Anthony,  93,  110.   115. 
^^■oodbridg(^    Elizal)eth,    11,    14. 

Young  Admiral,  49,   105. 


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